Schwarzenegger: Calif. Committed to H2 Future Regardless of Washington Politics
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joined the 2009 Hydrogen Road Tour today at Stop 6 of a 9-day, 28-stop, 1,700-mile road trip, telling a group of reporters at the site of the state's first integrated (H2 and gasoline) station that California remains committed to a future where hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles replace gassy rides regardless of what Washington does.
Speaking at a Shell station in West Los Angeles, Schwarzenegger reminded reporters that the California Air Resources Board, which sets vehicle-emissions standards for the state, recently passed a low-carbon fuel standard - the world's first such standard.
It will, he said, ensure that the cleanest fuels, including hydrogen, will always have a strong market in California.
"And the reason why this is so important is that on the federal level, they [politicians] make decisions based on where the oil price is. That means that sometimes the federal government, when the oil price goes up, they go in the direction of renewable energy and alternate fuels. And when the oil price goes down, they abandon those policies," the "Governator" said, his back to a row of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles made by Daimler, Honda, Toyota, KIA, Volkswagen and Nissan.
"Well we don't do that here in California. We only march in one direction and that is forward. And we're not going to slow down. In 2010, we will have seven new hydrogen refueling stations in California and we will invest another $40 million over the next two years in hydrogen stations."
The governor reminded the automotive press that 20 percent of the new vehicles sold in the United States are sold in California, which is home to 25 million cars and trucks. (Those vehicles, not incidentally, consume 50 million gallons of gasoline and diesel a day and produce 40 percent of the state's greenhouse gases.)
As a result of California's vehicle market share, and that fact that Washington often follows the state's lead regarding tailpipe-emissions regulations, automakers can count on there being a large market for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles and companies considering investments in an H2-refueling infrastructure can rest assured there will be vehicles requiring the fuel, he said.
Schwarzenegger's remarks came 20 days after Energy Secretary Steven Chu proposed that more than $100 million be cut from his department's hydrogen program. The proposed cut in the 2010 federal budget would slash hydrogen fuel cell spending by 59 percent to just $68 million and shift research to stationary power generation from transportation.
No doubt his remarks were intended to assuage fears automakers, infrastructure investors and others might have of pouring money in fuel-cell vehicles and support equipment and facilities resulting from Chu's proposal.
Following the governor's speech, the head of Shell's global hydrogen fuel-cell program Duncan Macleod addressed the press, telling them that Shell "looks forward to continuing to work together with both the public and the private sectors to provide hydrogen a clear path to make a difference in the future as it joins biofuels, electricity and other options in the low-carbon mix."
A Little Background
A number of important state legislative and regulatory drivers are pushing the advancement of hydrogen and other zero-emission vehicles in California. They include:
A zero-emissions-vehicle (or ZEV) mandate that requires each large automaker to produce ZEVs by 2014. The number of ZEVs marketed will depend on vehicle technology and functionality. ZEVs include highway-capable hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles that can be refueled quickly and have ranges of 200-plus miles as well as neighborhood vehicles limited to 25 mph.
The low-carbon fuel standard that the Governator mentioned, which calls for a reduction of at least 10 percent in the carbon intensity of California's transportation fuels by 2020. Hydrogen is an important lower carbon compliance option in this standard.
In January of this year, major auto companies shared their plans for deploying fuel-cell passenger vehicles, or FCVs, in California. According to their combined projections, the number of FCVs deployed in Southern California will more than double each year between 2009 and 2017, when they expect the total to be over 41,000. In Northern California, they project 8,450 passenger vehicles by 2017.
By 2017, an estimated 50 to 100 retail hydrogen stations - or roughly 10 stations per year - will be needed to satisfy the demand created by the vehicle and bus deployments.
Given the state's budget crisis, we asked Schwarzenegger if there will be money available to meet that need. His response:
"Let's assume for a second that because of the budget crunch the money is not there. But we will find, through our public and private partnership, people who will invest money in this and will build the hydrogen fueling stations. Maybe it will slow us down a little bit, because we have a limited amount of money... But we will find the partners, we will build those fueling stations."
We sure hope he's right.
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- Scott Doggett May 27, 2009, 2:13 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Daimler, Diesel, Emissions, Energy Companies, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Honda, Hydrogen, Kia, Legislation, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota, Volkswagen
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- Biofuels, California Air Resource Board, Daimler, General Motors Corp., Honda, Hydrogen Fuel Cell, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle, KIA, Nissan Motor Co., Plug In Electric Vehicles, Stephen Chu, Toyota Motor Co., Volkswagen AG, Volkswagen Fuel Cell Vehicles
It's good to see the Terminator backing the Hummer H2.
I already got yelled at once today for my sarcasm, so I guess I need to make it obvious.
I am thrilled Arnold is continuing the hydrogen effort. Washington as usual has their head up their a*s.