Aloha and Good Morning.
Thank you, Dr. Raman for that kind introduction. It is a pleasure to be here this morning addressing a group which is at the forefront of the collective effort to make hydrogen a key energy source. Your pioneering work will bring enormous transformations and beneficial changes to the way we live in much the same way as coal and petroleum did in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Hydrogen and fuel cells are a hot topic right now. Every day since the President announced the FreedomFuel initiative in his State of the Union address, there have been headlines in publications from the New York Times to Congress Daily about the promise of hydrogen for cars, trucks, ecological protection, cell phones, hearing aids, and more.
Some of us were there before it was fashionable to be a friend to hydrogen. Since my election to the House of Representatives twenty-seven years ago, I have worked to reduce America's dependence on imported oil and to encourage the use of renewable energy. My predecessor, Senator Spark Matsunaga, created the first formal hydrogen research program in this country, designed to accelerate development of a domestic capability to produce an economically renewable energy source. He introduced the legislation in 1982 and his perseverance led to the Matsunaga Hydrogen Act, enacted in 1990 shortly after his death. When I succeeded Spark in the Senate, I took up the cause of hydrogen and continue to believe that it is one of our best hopes for independence from fossil fuels.
The Hydrogen Future Act of 1996, which followed the Matsunaga Hydrogen Act, expanded the research, development, and demonstration program. It authorized activities leading to production, storage, transformation, and use of hydrogen for industrial, residential, transportation, and utility applications. It has enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress.
More recently, I have worked closely with my colleagues to reauthorize the Hydrogen Future Act. In the 106th Congress, I introduced a bill to reauthorize and broaden the program. Senator Harkin and I introduced the legislation in the 107th Congress, and we included it as part of a comprehensive energy policy in the omnibus energy bill considered by the 107th Congress.
The hydrogen provisions sustained broad bipartisan agreement in conference, from both sides of the aisle and in both Chambers of Congress. I am pleased that many of my colleagues have come to recognize the potential of hydrogen as a clean source of energy. I expect the numbers will only increase.
You heard from Senator Dorgan earlier this week about his bill to promote a hydrogen future. His legislation encompasses critical elements for a "hydrogen economy," and includes most of the provisions of the Hydrogen Future Act reauthorization that Tom Harkin and I introduced last Congress.
Senator Dorgan's bill includes financial incentives and regulatory reforms that are important to ensure that hydrogen has commercial viability and public acceptance in the future. It authorizes increased levels of funding for the work. All of these elements are important for the future of hydrogen. I support Senator Dorgan's efforts and have cosponsored the bill.
At the same time, however, we need a "workhorse bill" that includes language to reauthorize the research, development, and demonstration programs that have been the core of the Hydrogen Future Act. These efforts have been supported by my colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
I plan to reintroduce "workhorse" legislation in the Senate to reauthorize the Hydrogen Future Act and provide for the demonstration of hydrogen technologies at government facilities. The legislation is based on agreements made last year during the Energy Conference. While we were unable to come to agreement on the omnibus bill itself, progress was made on the research and development provisions, including hydrogen.
My bill will highlight hydrogen's potential as an efficient and environmentally friendly source of energy. It will emphasize the need for strong partnerships between the Federal government, industry, and academia, and underscore the importance of hydrogen research. The bill will also encourage private sector investment and cost sharing for the development of hydrogen as an energy source. These steps will move reauthorization forward.
I am optimistic that with enthusiasm and renewed attention to hydrogen as an energy carrier, we will have hydrogen legislation enacted this year. This Congress will revisit a national energy policy. The House released a draft omnibus bill this week. The Senate Energy Committee is conducting oversight hearings on each energy sector in anticipation of an omnibus energy bill later this spring. The question is what form the energy directives will take.
In the midst of this excitement for hydrogen, I have some concerns about the FreedomCAR and FreedomFuel initiatives, based on my interest in the development of the hydrogen economy for over 25 years. The nirvana of hydrogen-based energy has raised the hopes of people across the world from Iceland to the Pacific islands. It is seen as a salvation from oil dependence. The Council of Ministers of Vanuatu, a Pacific island nation, adopted a resolution to become the first hydrogen economy in the Pacific. It has set a target date of 2010 to stop importing oil and 2020 to eliminate internal combustion engines.
Hawaii, with chronically high energy prices, is eager to embrace the panacea. My caution is – let us not repeat the all- too-frequent pattern of high tech and scientific innovation, where "first world" nations create high-end solutions that the rest of the world cannot afford. FreedomCAR and FreedomFuel will attract and make contributions to air quality and to fossil fuel dependence for high-end consumers of the developed world. But let's not forget that developing countries need access to lower cost, locally-produced energy based on hydrogen – using the most widespread energy forms to create it, such as solar sources, biomass, and other renewable technologies which can be used to make hydrogen-generated electricity from locally available resources such as water. We must keep our eye on the global picture and increase our efforts to keep hydrogen technologies affordable, sustainable, and based on locally available resources.
I realize that fossil fuels are and will continue to be a significant long-term transitional resource as we move toward renewables. I remain convinced, however, that sometime well into the 21st century, hydrogen will join electricity as one of our Nation's primary energy carriers, and that hydrogen will ultimately be produced from renewable sources.
In the next twenty years, concerns about global climate change and domestic energy security will help hydrogen penetrate several niche markets. The growth of fuel cell technology will allow the introduction of hydrogen in the transportation and electricity sectors. I am optimistic that in my lifetime I will be able to see hospitals, homes, military bases and cars running on locally-produced sources of hydrogen.
Clearly, this is a long-term vision for hydrogen energy as a renewable resource. Progress on hydrogen technology is being made, and challenges and barriers are being surmounted, at an accelerating pace on a global scale.
According to the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association, Toyota and Honda will sell or lease fuel cell vehicles in the U.S. and Japan this year. Perhaps they are already available! I commend Ford Motor Company for its sponsorship of this conference and for the development and display of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle in the lobby downstairs. Fuel cells for distributed stationary power are being commercialized and installed in various locations in the United States and worldwide. General Motors Corporation recently unveiled a stationary, hydrogen-powered generator that could be used to provide energy for homes and businesses. Transit bus demonstrations are underway in the U.S. and Europe. Washington, DC, is one of the American cities participating in the project.
We are all familiar with Iceland's far-sighted bid to become the world's first hydrogen-based economy. It has already made great strides in using renewable resources for their heating and electricity needs. The nation is committed to transforming its remaining fossil fuel-based transportation sector, and its economically important fishing fleet, to hydrogen power. Iceland will have no need to import oil. Now there is a revolutionary thought!
Closer to home, I am particularly pleased that the State of Hawaii is taking the lead in ushering in the hydrogen era. The State has identified hydrogen-based renewable fuels, and the jobs it can create, as a high priority, high-tech opportunity that can jump-start and diversify our economy. The cost of electricity and gasoline in Hawaii are important incentives for finding cheaper, home-grown power. The Hawaii Natural Energy Institute of the University of Hawaii concluded that large-scale hydrogen use for transportation can be competitive this decade. The bottom line, however, is that the money we spend to import fossil fuels, is money sent out of our State.
I am particularly pleased with the public-private partnership between the University of Hawaii's Natural Energy Institute, the Naval Research Laboratory, United Technologies Fuel Cells, and Hawaiian Electric Company. In January 2002, the Institute announced a partnership with the Department of Defense to establish a hydrogen fuel cell test facility in Honolulu. The facility will house up to eight state-of-the art fuel cells test stands and related operations supporting fuel cell development. The Institute has made Hawaii a leader in the development and testing of advanced fuel cell systems and fuels processing. These are important initiatives and illustrate the value of public-private partnerships along the pathway to a different energy source that requires an entirely different infrastructure. The real issue is how fast we can bring down the cost of fuel cells to make them commercially available on a large scale.
Despite the progress, problems and challenges remain. First, hydrogen production costs from fossil and renewable energy sources remain high. Second, attractive low-cost storage technologies are not available. Third, the infrastructure is inadequate. We need to address these challenges and barriers if we are to enjoy the benefits of an efficient and environmentally friendly energy sources.
An aggressive research and development program can help us overcome these challenges by reducing production costs from fossil and renewable sources, advancing storage technologies, and addressing safety concerns with efforts in establishing codes and standards. Our nation needs a sustained and focused research, development, and demonstration program to make hydrogen a viable source of energy.
The strategy should focus on mid-term and long-term goals. We must support development of technologies that enable distributed electric-generation fuel cell systems and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for transportation applications. For the long term, we should look to hydrogen technologies that enhance renewable systems and offer us the promise of clean, abundant fuels. Demonstrations, pilot fleets and government purchases are an important element of support and an incentive that needs to be offered. The Hydrogen Future Act (HFA) reauthorization does that.
The HFA includes a program aimed at demonstrating hydrogen technologies and their integration with fuel cells at Federal, State, and local government facilities. It would focus on hydrogen production, storage, and use in buildings and vehicles; on hydrogen-based infrastructure for buses and fleet transportation; and on distributed power generation, including the generation of combined heat, power, and hydrogen. The bill also modifies the cost-sharing requirements to enable more participation in research projects by small companies.
In summary, I commend you, the participants in the National Hydrogen Association's 14th Annual Hydrogen Conference and Exhibition, for your interest and leadership in hastening the arrival of the hydrogen age. The message I would like to leave with you as we embark on the hydrogen economy is a simple one: Let's keep it affordable, sustainable, and based on locally available resources.
Once again, I say mahalo nui loa, thank you very much, to the officers and members of the National Hydrogen Association for inviting me to speak at your conference.
