News Release

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. John Spratt (D-SC) voted yesterday to pass H.R. 632, the H-Prize Act, a bill that authorizes a total of $50 million over the period of fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2017 for the Department of Energy to create a new program of competitive cash prizes for technological advances in the commercial use of hydrogen.

Under the measure, the Department of Energy, with a non-profit entity, awards cash prizes in three categories — technologies for the distribution or production of hydrogen; prototypes of hydrogen-powered vehicles or other products; and "transformational technology" related to production, storage, distribution, or use of hydrogen fuel.

 “I’m proud to support this measure that gives researchers at the Savannah River National Laboratory, the Center for Hydrogen Research (in Aiken, SC) the University of South Carolina, Clemson University, and South Carolina State University, all of which have made hydrogen research a focus, a chance to compete for prize money,” Spratt said, “and to gain national recognition for the work they are doing in the field of hydrogen research.”
 
The Department of Energy Department will advertise the competitions to attract a wide range of applicants, including universities, large and small businesses, and minority-serving institutions.

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