[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 373 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 373

To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to provide 
 for a program to develop and demonstrate the cost-effective operation 
          of a fleet of renewable hydrogen passenger vehicles.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 14, 2005

  Mr. Harkin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to provide 
 for a program to develop and demonstrate the cost-effective operation 
          of a fleet of renewable hydrogen passenger vehicles.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Renewable Hydrogen Passenger Vehicle 
Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. RENEWABLE HYDROGEN TRANSPORTATION DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) reductions in local air pollution, greenhouse gas 
        emissions, and oil imports resulting from the introduction of 
        vehicles with gasoline-powered internal combustion hybrid 
        electric engines will be only temporary, as improved fuel 
        economy of the hybrid vehicles is offset by increases in 
        vehicle miles traveled;
            (2) direct substitution of farm-based renewable fuels for 
        gasoline in gasoline-powered internal combustion hybrid 
        electric engines will result in further reductions in local air 
        pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and oil imports;
            (3) for permanent reductions in criteria pollutants, 
        greenhouse gas emissions, and oil imports, Congress should 
        establish as a national goal the development of renewable 
        hydrogen as a clean effective energy carrier;
            (4) the development of vehicles powered by hydrogen derived 
        from domestic renewable resources such as ethanol, energy 
        crops, agricultural waste, landfill gas, municipal solid waste, 
        wind power, and solar electricity, will--
                    (A) substantially and permanently reduce local air 
                pollution and greenhouse gas emissions;
                    (B) improve the energy security of the United 
                States; and
                    (C) create domestic jobs;
            (5) notwithstanding paragraph (4), as of the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the fuel cell technology required to 
        make the most efficient use of renewable hydrogen is too costly 
        and has not achieved the reliability necessary for consumer 
        acceptance in the near term;
            (6) in the near term (before affordable and reliable fuel 
        cell vehicles are developed), hydrogen-powered internal 
        combustion engine hybrid electric vehicles have been developed 
        that can achieve more than 90 percent of the environmental 
        benefits and 100 percent of the oil import reduction benefits 
        of fuel cell vehicles;
            (7) in addition to robust research and development for fuel 
        cell vehicles, a program to develop and demonstrate renewable 
        hydrogen production and distribution technology is justified;
            (8) reforming ethanol at a vehicle fueling station may be 
        the least costly method of producing renewable hydrogen;
            (9) a low cost renewable hydrogen vehicle demonstration 
        program that will yield valuable information regarding an 
        interim transition strategy of using hydrogen-powered internal 
        combustion engine hybrid electric vehicles to pave the way for 
        fuel cell vehicles once fuel cell vehicles become affordable 
        and reliable can be implemented in 1 year; and
            (10) the introduction of commercial hydrogen internal 
        combustion engine hybrid electric vehicles can provide the 
        economic incentives to help stimulate development of hydrogen 
        fueling systems at existing gasoline fueling stations to 
        convert ethanol to hydrogen onsite, thereby significantly 
        accelerating the adoption of super-clean renewable hydrogen as 
        an alternative to gasoline made from imported crude oil.
    (b) Program.--Section 9007 of the Farm Security and Rural 
Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8107) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
    ``(c) Demonstration Program.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of Energy, in coordination 
        with the Secretary, shall conduct a 3-year program to develop 
        and demonstrate the cost-effective operation of a fleet of at 
        least 10 direct hydrogen passenger vehicles based on existing 
        commercial technology under which the hydrogen is derived from 
        ethanol or other domestic low-cost transportable renewable 
        feedstocks.
            ``(2) Goals.--The goals of the program shall include--
                    ``(A) demonstrating the cost-effective conversion 
                of ethanol or other low-cost transportable renewable 
                feedstocks to pure hydrogen suitable for eventual use 
                in proton exchange membrane fuel cell vehicles at 1 or 
                more local fueling stations, including hydrogen 
                compression and storage necessary to fill vehicle tanks 
                to their operational pressure, using existing 
                commercial reforming technology or modest modifications 
                of existing technology to reform ethanol or other low-
                cost transportable renewable feedstocks into hydrogen;
                    ``(B) converting 10 or more commercially available 
                internal combustion engine hybrid electric passenger 
                vehicles to operate on hydrogen;
                    ``(C) installing and operating an ethanol reformer 
                or reformer of another low-cost transportable renewable 
                feedstock (including onsite hydrogen compression, 
                storage, and dispensing) at the facilities of a fleet 
                operator not later than 1 year after commencement of 
                the program;
                    ``(D) operating the 10 or more hydrogen internal 
                combustion engine hybrid electric vehicles for a period 
                of 2 years; and
                    ``(E) collecting emissions and fuel economy data on 
                the 10 hydrogen-powered vehicles over various operating 
                conditions and weather conditions.
            ``(3) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
        to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $5,000,000.''.
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