US Secretary of Energy pushes ethanol, electric cars and hydrogen cells at SAE

Ultimately, Bodman said, electric cars and hydrogen fuel cells are the answer to the country’s energy problems. Hydrogen produces more energy than other fuels but no harmful emissions.

General Motors Corp. scientist Candace Wheeler said no single alternative fuel will end the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, since the United States uses 140 billion gallons of fuel a year.

“It’s going to take a number of different fuels,” Wheeler said.

Over the next three years, the federal government plans to award $50 million worth of grants to universities, national laboratories and private companies researching hydrogen. The program, aimed at developing vehicles that run can more than 300 miles on a single fill-up of hydrogen, furthers the Bush administration’s goal of commercializing fuel cells by 2020.