[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 36 (Thursday, February 23, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9331-9332]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-1704]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy


Comments on Draft Roadmap on Manufacturing Research and 
Development for the Hydrogen Economy

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy requests comment on its draft Roadmap 
on Manufacturing Research and Development (R&D) for the Hydrogen 
Economy. This draft roadmap is designed to guide research and 
development of manufacturing processes to reduce the cost and enhance 
the reliability of critical hydrogen and fuel cell components and 
systems.

DATES: The draft roadmap will be open for public comment until April 
24, 2006.

ADDRESSES: The draft roadmap is available at http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov. Address all comments on this roadmap via the 
Web site at http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/manufacturing_form.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. JoAnn Milliken, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Mail Station 
EE-2H, Attn: JoAnn Milliken, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, 
DC 20585-0121, Phone: (202) 586-2480, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The mission of DOE's Hydrogen, Fuel Cells 
and Infrastructure Technologies Program is to research, develop and 
validate fuel cell and hydrogen production, delivery, and storage 
technologies. Hydrogen from diverse domestic resources will then be 
used in a clean, safe, reliable, and affordable manner in fuel cell 
vehicles and stationary power applications. Development of hydrogen 
energy will ensure that the United States has an abundant, reliable, 
and affordable supply of clean energy to maintain the Nation's 
prosperity throughout the 21st century.
    The President established the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative and the 
Manufacturing Initiative to meet critical national needs that involve 
energy security, environmental quality, and economic well-being. The 
Hydrogen Fuel Initiative aims to reverse America's growing dependence 
on imported oil by developing the technology needed for commercially 
viable hydrogen-powered fuel cells. The Manufacturing Initiative, which 
addresses the entire manufacturing sector in the United States, will 
strengthen American manufacturing, create new jobs, and help U.S. 
manufacturers become more competitive in the global marketplace. The 
Roadmap on Manufacturing R&D for the Hydrogen Economy describes 
activities at the intersection of these two initiatives. Manufacturing 
covers a broad range of components and systems related to hydrogen 
production and delivery, fuel cells, and hydrogen storage. The 
transition to a hydrogen economy will take decades. Significant 
challenges must be overcome to move from today's components and 
systems, built using laboratory-scale fabrication technologies, to 
high-volume commercially manufactured products. Essential manufacturing 
needs for the initial transition to a hydrogen economy include 
distributed production and delivery, on-board vehicle storage, and 
polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.
    The roadmap identifies the challenges to manufacturing the hydrogen

[[Page 9332]]

production, storage, and fuel cell technologies that will be required 
for the initial transition to the hydrogen economy. R&D of 
manufacturing processes will play a pivotal role in reducing cost of 
hydrogen technologies and in building the supplier base needed to move 
the U.S. toward a clean and sustainable energy future.
    Based on the results of a July 2005 workshop, the roadmap 
consolidates recommendations of hydrogen and fuel cell experts from 
industry, universities, and national laboratories. Led by the DOE and 
the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the workshop and 
roadmap are the result of a collaboration of the Interagency Working 
Group on Manufacturing R&D established through the President's National 
Science and Technology Council. See the press release from Energy 
Secretary Samuel W. Bodman at http://www.energy.gov/print/3098.htm. The 
roadmap is posted on the Internet at the Web site identified in the 
ADDRESSES section of this notice.
    The goal of the DOE Hydrogen Program is to develop the technology 
needed for commercially viable hydrogen-powered fuel cells by 2015. 
Through public-private partnerships, the DOE is working to reduce the 
cost and enhance the durability of hydrogen technologies to enable 
industry to put fuel cell vehicles in the showroom and provide hydrogen 
at refueling stations by 2020.
    For more information about the DOE Hydrogen Program, visit http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on February 17, 2006.
Douglas L. Faulkner,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 06-1704 Filed 2-22-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P