[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 105 (Monday, July 29, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1440]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ON THE PROGRESS OF FUEL CELLS AND THE CONTINUING NEED FOR ALTERNATIVE 
                             ENERGY SOURCES

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL R. McNULTY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 26, 2002

  Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday of this week, at the Town Hall 
in Babylon, Long Island, located in New York's Second Congressional 
District and represented by my colleague, Mr. Israel, without much 
fanfare, we saw into the future.
  A device was switched on, Mr. Speaker, that--by converting natural 
gas to hydrogen--produces both useable electricity and useable heat. 
The heat is captured and reused to warm the building, and the 
electricity is harnessed and channeled to supplement the structure's 
power supply. And no contaminants or particulates of any kind are, or 
will be, released into the atmosphere or water supply at any point in 
the process.
  This device is the first of its kind in use in the State of New York 
to provide the combined supplemental heat and electricity for a 
building. This device is called the ``GenSys5C'' and is produced by 
Plug Power in Latham, New York--which, I am proud to say, is located in 
my Congressional District. This device, Mr. Speaker, is called a fuel 
cell.
  Last year, I joined a number of my colleagues from both sides of the 
aisle to introduce H.R. 1275, a bill to provide tax incentives for the 
development and production of fuel cells and related technologies.
  Wisely, this tax credit was included in both the House-passed and 
Senate passed versions of the energy bill. As our colleagues on the 
conference committee meet to resolve the differences, I encourage them 
to support the preservation of this provision in the final report.
  Fuel cells, Mr. Speaker, represent the future of energy efficiency, 
the future of clean and renewable heat and electricity energy sources 
for our Nation.
  There are solutions to our energy crisis that avoid the continued 
depletion of our natural resources and destruction of the environment, 
and fuel cell technology is one of them. I am proud to call attention 
to the milestone reached on Long Island by Plug Power. I call upon my 
colleagues to continue to support research and development in this 
field, in order to ensure that success stories will continue to be 
told. As those present at the Babylon Town Hall already know, the 
future is now, and it is exemplified in the production of clean, 
efficient energy using fuel cell technology.

                          ____________________