By Sacha Zimmerman

From Reader's Digest

The Holy Grail for Automakers

I am driving through downtown Washington, D.C., in a white GM minivan with friendly blue-bubble decals decorating the sides. Paint job notwithstanding, it seems to be a perfectly normal car. As I cruise past lobbyists and lawyers with the nonchalance of a soccer mom, no one looks askance at my van. And why should they? It's emitting no noxious pollutants and the engine seems to purr rather than growl. I am driving a hydrogen-powered automobile -- so clean, you can literally drink from the exhaust pipe (I've seen it done) -- and it's a smooth, peppy ride.

It's also the holy grail for automakers, environmentalists, political leaders -- and, most important, drivers everywhere (whether or not we realize it yet). What's not to like about a vehicle that combats global warming, offers hope of weaning the world off Mideast oil, and could save on fuel costs? More than anything, though, the development of the hydrogen car, along with other alternatives, is a response to one unsettling fact: The world will one day run out of oil. And that day may arrive sooner than most of us would think.

Industry experts at the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (ASPO) predict that by 2008, we may have extracted half the available global supply of oil. While it took us the better part of the last century to reach this halfway point, it will take significantly less time to consume the rest. With more industrialized countries, more cars, trucks and buses, and more demand than ever for home heating and appliances -- just think China -- oil could reach depletion more quickly than we once assumed. So the race is underway to find affordable fuel alternatives, as well as new ways to conserve our remaining oil.

For car manufacturers and a growing number of consumers, the future is now -- in the form of the latest generation of hybrid vehicles. Toyota, Honda and Ford have led the charge with technology that pairs a small gasoline engine with an electric motor that actually powers the car without high levels of pollution. The electric motor and gasoline engine is more efficient than a combustion engine. According to the Alliance to Save Energy, in 2004, SUV drivers spent about $1,225 on fuel, while passenger cars cost $976 to run. Hybrid drivers only spent between $350 and $450.

Also, hybrids have solved a big drawback of energy-efficient electric cars, which need to be recharged regularly -- literally plugged into a power source. Hybrids like Honda's Insight, Civic and Accord, and Toyota's Prius, charge the battery as you drive. Plus, some can travel more than 600 miles on a tank of gas.

To entice people to buy these cleaner, more efficient cars, the federal government is offering owners a one-time $2,000 tax deduction. Local governments are offering incentives too. Hybrid owners in Los Angeles receive parking exemptions; in Connecticut, residents whose energy-efficient cars get at least 40 miles per gallon are exempt from the sales tax on the car; Pennsylvania owners are eligible for a $500 rebate at purchase; and in Virginia, hybrid drivers can take advantage of the HOV (high-occupancy- vehicle) lane -- no matter how many passengers are on board.

According to Bradley Berman, editor of HybridCars.com, 88,000 of these automobiles were sold in the United States last year -- that's nearly double the previous year and about ten times as many sold in 2000. This year alone, the chic Prius is on track to sell some 45,000, despite six-month waiting lists.

Reducing U.S. Oil Consumption

Even as more hybrid cars hit the road, the technology is a key element in an exciting new project, one that could hasten our transition to a hydrogen-fuel economy. The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to energy policy, has launched a research center with the sole purpose of creating the "Hypercar." This vehicle's design is what sets it apart. Hypercars are formulated to make the most of an ultra-light construction, low-drag aerodynamics and hybrid-electric drive trains to achieve much greater fuel economy than today's hybrids, while maintaining or improving performance, safety and affordability.

According to the head of RMI, Amory Lovins, the Hypercar will also be designed to "reach its full potential" with an eventual conversion to hydrogen fuel cells. It's a goal RMI shares with the federal government's Freedom CAR (Cooperative Automotive Research) program. The Department of Energy and automakers Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler created a joint project to develop hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicles that require no oil and emit no pollutants.

A few numbers explain the urgency behind this initiative. The International Energy Association reports that North America's oil consumption now accounts for 31 percent of the world's total. If current trends hold, by 2030 about half of all U.S. oil imports will come from Middle Eastern suppliers. In the meantime, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, vehicles account for 40 percent of all oil use in America, and carbon emissions from the tailpipes of cars and trucks are responsible for almost one-third of the air pollution in this country. Recognizing these long-term threats to the environment and national security, President Bush proposed in 2003 to spend $1.2 billion on hydrogen fuel-cell technology. "The first car driven by a child born today could be powered by made-in-the-U.S. hydrogen gas," Bush said.

This effort may get an added boost from energy sources already available to us. A variety of homegrown sources, such as ethanol and biodiesel, can help power cars while being produced not by ominous oil cartels, but by American farmers. President Bush's energy plan includes tax credits for producers of both ethanol and biodiesel, sales of which could substantially reduce U.S. oil consumption.

One big advantage to these two alternative fuels is that they're derived from corn and other grains. "We produce far more grain than we consume," says Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois. "Clearly, we have an untapped resource sitting literally in our own backyard." Durbin's state makes enough ethanol to potentially offset over 36.5 million barrels of oil per year.

This past spring, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin introduced a bill that authorizes $5 million over three years to look into the possibility of producing hydrogen for fuel from ethanol; the bill is still being debated in the Senate. But critics say it will take much more spending, well beyond even the President's $1.2 billion proposal, to seriously pursue our quest for hydrogen fuel. The very nature of hydrogen ensures that it will require a lot of money, as well as brainpower, to turn it into a viable solution to our energy crisis.

General Motors is pushing this effort forward by teaming with Toyota to collaborate on hydrogen fuel-cell goals. Meanwhile, GM has produced a hydrogen-fueled car called the Hy-Wire, which has no internal combustion engine, no instrument panel, and no brake or accelerator pedals; the car is controlled through wires rather than a hydraulics system. For its part, Honda has developed its FCX fuel-cell vehicle, five of which already are being used by city officials in Los Angeles.

On the afternoon I spent tooling around Washington in the hydrogen minivan, the engine's quiet hum brought a curious thought to mind. In the future, would children say "zee, zee" while playing with toy cars instead of "vroom, vroom"? Maybe, if they're lucky. For the coming of hydrogen cars will bring huge side-benefits to those children: cleaner air, less reliance on OPEC oil, and in time less money spent on energy. The end of vroom can't come too soon.

Solving the Hydrogen Riddle

You can't see it, smell it, or taste it, but it is everywhere at once and you can't live without it. The answer to this brainteaser is hydrogen, of course. But there's much more to the riddle posed by this potential fuel.

Its advantages over oil are huge: Hydrogen is ubiquitous; the earth should theoretically never run out of it; its only fuel by-product is non-polluting water; and when released as energy in a motor, it's almost twice as efficient as a combustion engine.

To isolate hydrogen, though, researchers have to work with the element in its bonded state (such as when it's combined with oxygen to form H²O), and that's no easy matter.

The reason is that electricity is used to separate hydrogen from oxygen. Fossil fuels and coal can create electricity, yet these resources also produce the kind of pollution that hydrogen is supposed to eliminate. Nuclear power can generate electricity, and nuclear-power plants produce few carbon-based contaminants. But they also create radioactive waste -- and worries about storing it all.

Some tout hydrogen derived from renewable sources, like solar power and wind energy. However, the Energy Department expects that ten years from now, renewables will account for only 8 percent of the fuel consumed worldwide. Almost certainly, the best solution will be an innovation yet to come.