GAO: DOE Made Progress with Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, Needs to Update 2015 Target

February 20, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

According to the report, the DOE:

• Reduced the cost of producing hydrogen from natural gas.
• Developed a model to identify and optimize major elements of a projected hydrogen delivery infrastructure.
• Increased by 50% the storage capacity of hydrogen, which is a key element for increasing the driving range of vehicles.
• Reduced the cost and improved the durability of fuel cells.

However, according to the GAO report, more difficult technical challenges lie ahead including finding a technology that can store enough hydrogen on board a vehicle to achieve a 300-mile driving range, reducing the cost of delivering hydrogen to consumers and further reducing the cost and improving the durability of fuel cells.

The difficulty of overcoming these technical challenges as well as hydrogen R&D budget constraints led the DOE to push back some of its interim target dates, according to the report.

However, the DOE has not updated its 2006 Hydrogen Posture Plan's overall assessment of what the department expects to achieve by its technology readiness date in 2015 and how this may differ from previous posture plans, according to the report.

In addition, deploying the support infrastructure needed to commercialize hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles across the nation will require an investment of tens of billions of dollars over several decades after 2015, according to the report.

The DOE involved industry in designing and reviewing its hydrogen R&D program and worked to align its priorities with those of industry. Industry continues to review R&D progress through the DOE’s annual peer review of each project, technical teams cochaired by the DOE and industry and R&D workshops, according to the report.

Industry representatives are satisfied with the DOE's efforts and said that the DOE managed its hydrogen R&D resources well. However, the industry representatives said that the DOE's emphasis on vehicle fuel cell technologies left little funding for stationary or portable technologies that potentially could be commercialized before vehicles, according to the report.

In response, the DOE recently increased its funding for stationary and portable R&D. The DOE worked "effectively" with hydrogen R&D managers and scientists in other federal agencies but it is too early to evaluate collaboration among senior officials at the policy level, according to the report.

Agency managers are satisfied with the efforts of several interagency working groups to coordinate activities and facilitate scientific exchanges, according to the report. At the policy level, in August 2007, the DOE convened the inaugural meeting of an interagency task force composed of deputy assistant secretaries and program directors. The task force is developing plans to demonstrate and promote hydrogen technologies.

Purpose of report
The U.S. consumes more than 20 million barrels of oil each day, two-thirds of which is imported, leaving the nation vulnerable to rising prices, according to the report. Oil combustion produces emissions linked to health problems and global warming.

In January 2003, the administration announced a five-year, $1.2 billion Hydrogen Fuel Initiative to perform R&D for developing hydrogen fuel cells for use as a substitute for gasoline engines. Led by the DOE, the initiative's goal is to develop the technologies by 2015 that will enable U.S. industry to make hydrogen-powered cars available to consumers by 2020.

The GAO examined the extent to which the DOE (1) made progress in meeting the initiative's targets, (2) worked with industry to set and meet targets and (3) worked with other federal agencies to develop and demonstrate hydrogen technologies.

The GAO report recommended that the DOE update its Hydrogen Posture Plan's assessment of what can be achieved by 2015 and how this may differ from its prior posture plans.

Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).