Fuel Cells 2000 Lauds Bush Administration for Fuel Cell Support

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 -- When your job is to educate policy makers, the press and the general public about the potential benefits of fuel cells, hearing announcements like today's new Freedom Cooperative Automotive Research (CAR) program makes things a little easier.

The new government-industry partnership, involving DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Council for Automotive Research (USCAR), ``will further the president's national energy policy, which calls for increased research in hydrogen technology to diversify and enhance America's energy security,'' says the Energy Department.

The Freedom CAR program will focus on renewable energy technologies such as fuel cells and hydrogen generation, replacing the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, which had pushed industry development of higher- efficiency family-sized cars. ``Fuel Cells 2000 is extremely excited about the Bush administration's support of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles,'' says Jennifer Gangi, manager, Fuel Cells 2000. ``With the government's backing, it will help accelerate fuel cell commercialization. The key tests of this new program will be the level of support, the financial commitment and the actual pace of the program.''

Fuel Cells 2000 is the leading nonaligned source of information about fuel cells. To encourage fuel cell collaborations and industry advancements, Fuel Cells 2000 offers many services on http://www.fuelcells.org -- the Fuel Cell Directory, the Fuel Cell Match Maker, the monthly Fuel Cell Technology Updates, the Fuel Cell Quarterly, and the Fuel Cell Career Center.