VOICE ONE:
This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English programEXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about a new American program to developcars that do not cause pollution.
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VOICE ONE:
American Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham recently announced anew program to develop cars that effectively use fuel and do notcause pollution. The new energy department program will supportresearch to make a car powered by a fuel cell engine. Mister Abrahamcalls the proposed vehicle the “Freedom Car.”
The energy secretary made his announcement at the Detroit AutoShow in early January. He said the new “Freedom Car” project ismeant to bring about a change in government policy. Mister Abrahamsaid “Freedom C-A-R” stands for “Cooperative Automotive Research.”
He said using hydrogen instead of gasoline as fuel for carsrepresents an important step toward reducing America’s use offoreign oil. Mister Abraham also said that the fuel cell projectwill combine government and industrial investments to develop newtechnologies.
VOICE TWO:
A fuel cell is not a new invention. It is a device which useshydrogen fuel and oxygen from the air to produce electricity andwater. Sir William Grove of Britain invented the first fuel cell inEighteen-Thirty-Nine. Many different designs have been inventedsince then.
The Gemini and Apollo space shipsused fuel cells to create electricity in space. Fuel cells provideall the electrical power on the American space agency’s SpaceShuttle. The hydrogen used by the fuel cells combines with oxygen toprovide all of the drinking water for the astronauts.
This is the way a fuel cell uses hydrogen to create electricity.Hydrogen gas is passed over a metal that reacts electrically. Theelectrons from the hydrogen separate to form electricity. Theremaining part of the hydrogen atom, the proton, combines withoxygen to form water. This process makes electricity withoutproducing the pollution that is created when coal, oil and gasolineare burned as fuels.
VOICE ONE:
Researchers say fuel cells lose less of the energy they producethan other methods of making electricity. They also say that a largenumber of substances can be used to provide fuel for a fuel cell.Specially treated natural gas, oil and coal all contain the hydrogennecessary to run a fuel cell.
Several companies in the United States, Germany and Canada aredeveloping experimental fuel cells. Yet, most of these devices arepart of a large power station. In these power systems, a centralfuel cell makes electricity from hydrogen gas. Other machinesseparate hydrogen from natural gas, oil or coal. These fuel cellsystems can be very complex.
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VOICE TWO:
Hydrogen presents several major problems for those who want touse it to make energy or to power cars. Hydrogen easily combineswith other elements, or itself, to create molecules. Yet, it takes alot of energy to release a hydrogen atom from a molecule. Forexample, electrolysis is the process of separating a hydrogen atomfrom an oxygen atom in a molecule of water. In this process,electrical current separates the two atoms, but adds greatly to thecost of making hydrogen gas.
The Department of Energy lists several ways that hydrogen can bereleased from some materials. However, research shows that hydrogenis difficult to separate from complex molecules. The agencyestimates that producing electricity from hydrogen would be aboutten times more costly than burning natural gas.
VOICE ONE:
Fuel cells also present major problems for engineers who designcars. A single fuel cell has to be large, yet can create only asmall amount of electrical power. So, fuel cells need to be combinedin a series to produce a strong electrical current. Researchers havebeen trying to reduce the size of fuel cells for many years.
Some scientists have used new materials to solve the problem. Onefuel cell developed by Bell Laboratories is very small. It usesspecially processed materials to make a very thin fuel cell.However, these thin fuel cells produce only a small amount ofelectricity. Experts believe that smaller fuel cells will some dayprovide power for devices like cellular telephones and computers.
VOICE TWO:
Fuel storage is another major problem in designing a car that ispowered by a fuel cell. Fuel cell engines require a large amount ofhydrogen to create enough electricity to much too much space.Hydrogen in liquid form can exist only at extremely lowtemperatures. A fuel tank in a car to hold liquid hydrogen wouldneed to be very large to keep the temperature inside it low.
The cost of a car with a fuel cell engine could also be a majorproblem. Peter Hoffman is head of The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Letter.Mister Hoffman supports developing cell energy technology. Hisestimates suggest that fuel cell cars would cost at leastseventy-five thousand dollars.
VOICE ONE:
Experimental fuel cell cars do exist. The car manufacturerDaimler-Chrysler has developed a fuel cell engine small enough touse in a car. The experimental car is called the Chrysler Natrium.Its fuel cell engine runs on a chemical mixture called sodiumborohydride. The fuel cell uses hydrogen in the fuel to makeelectricity.
However, a hydrogen fuel cell powered by the kind of chemicalmixture presents new problems. The new fuel is not commonly usedtoday. And, the car would produce huge amounts of borax as wastedefeating the purpose of using a fuel cell engine that does notpollute.
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VOICE TWO:
The new “Freedom Car” program is not the first time the Americangovernment has supported research to produce cars that use fuel moreeffectively. In Nineteen-Ninety-Three, the Clinton administrationbegan a program to design cars that use less fuel. The goal was todevelop a car that uses about three times less gasoline than currentcars.
The government spent about one-thousand-five-hundred milliondollars to aid the research. Much of the research money went tolaboratories, universities and government agencies. The New YorkTimes reports that the three biggest car makers — Ford, GeneralMotors and Chrysler — received only a small amount of thegovernment support.
VOICE ONE:
That program failed to produce any cars using less fuel thatcould be sold. It did develop several new materials that are beingused in cars today. Yet, American vehicles on average do not usefuel more effectively than they did at the beginning of the program.
Energy Secretary Abraham’s announcement in Detroit, Michigan, ofthe Freedom Car program officially ended that effort. In theproposed federal budget for Two-Thousand-Three, the Bushadministration calls for spending one-hundred-fifty million dollarsthis year on fuel cell research.
VOICE TWO:
Two car companies have successfully developed cars that useregular gasoline far more effectively. The Japanese car companyToyota makes what is called a hybrid car. The model called the Priususes both electricity and gas to run its engine. Toyota has soldmore than twenty-thousand of these cars in the United States. Infact, every Prius ever made has been sold. There is a list of peoplewho want to buy the popular car.
The Japanese car-maker, Honda, also makes a hybrid car that usesgasoline so effectively that it almost meets the goal set by theClinton administration. The Honda Insight also uses a combination ofa gasoline engine and electricity created from the motion of the caritself. Both the Prius and the Insight produce much less waste aswell. Toyota says the Prius produces seventy-five percent lesspollution than regular cars.
Cars powered by fuel cells would create less pollution than evenhybrid cars like the Toyota Prius. However, fuel cell cars will notappear in the market place for many years, until researchers developnew technologies to deal with old problems.
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VOICE ONE:
This Special English program was written by Mario Ritter. It wasdirected by George Grow. Our studio engineer was Wagner Roberts.This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.