Originally published July 3 2005
States to begin testing hydrogen cars, filling stations
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Because hydrogen is a clean-burning, renewable and inexpensive fuel source, many environmental projects are turning to it to replace petroleum, and, according to the Orlando Sentinel, some states, like Florida, will be testing hydrogen-powered cars and fueling stations to prove the effectiveness of this fuel source.
Hydrogen is colorless, odorless, tasteless and all around us, making up as much as 75 percent of the universe.
It's in the water we drink and the food we eat.
And soon, in Central Florida, it will be in our gas tanks, too.
Central Florida is one of three areas of the country to schedule demonstration projects that are designed to show hydrogen as the fuel of the future.
One of the fueling stations for hydrogen-powered cars will be just across the Orange County line off Boggy Creek Road near Orlando International Airport.
Proponents say hydrogen cars would reduce U.S. dependence on oil and benefit the environment because the only byproducts of hydrogen-fueled engines are heat and water.
But some experts warn that technological barriers make hydrogen-fueled vehicles prohibitively expensive for another 25 years.
Whether or not the technology is ready to vault the United States into some futuristic utopia where fuel supplies are unending and the air is clean, the federal government plans to spend $1.2 billion through 2008 on its Hydrogen Fuel Initiative.
Florida's contribution is a partnership among the state Department of Environmental Protection, Progress Energy, Ford Motor Co. and British Petroleum.
Five Focus sedans will be used by DEP inspectors and Progress Energy meter readers, said Jeff Prather, a DEP spokesman in Orlando.
Eight 12-passenger buses will be used to shuttle passengers at Orlando International Airport, he said.
Also, Ford and Delta Air Lines are discussing use of hydrogen-fueled tugs, the tractor-like vehicles that pull luggage trains around the tarmac at the airport, Prather said.
Enthusiasm and environmental awareness alone won't make hydrogen-fueled cars available, practical or affordable.
"We need some breakthroughs, but no such breakthroughs are on the horizon," said Joseph Romm, executive director of the Center for Energy & Climate Solutions.
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