Invited Paper IPF-SuA1
Technology, Economics, and Policy of Hydrogen and Fuel Cells

Sunday, October 14, 2007, 3:00 pm, Room 602/603

The history of alternative transportation fuels is largely a history of failures. None has overcome the institutional, financial, and technological inertia of gasoline and diesel. Only ethanol made from corn is gaining market share in the US - thanks to large federal and state subsidies and a federal mandate. What are the prospects of alternative low-carbon fuels, especially biofuels, electricity and hydrogen? Is California's low carbon fuel standard a model for orchestrating the transiton to alternative fuels? Is hydrogen different? Might hydrogen and fuel cells succeed on a grand scale, where others have not? If so, how might this unfold? What role do hybrid vehicles play in this process? This presentation will address the technology, economics, and policy of hydrogen and fuel cells, and will explore possible and likely outcomes.