Uses Hydrogen1 as Fuel2

 

Broadcast: February 14, 2003
By George Grow

This is the VOA Special English Environment Report.

President Bush has offered a plan to speed development of technology that uses hydrogen as fuel. His goal is increased production of vehicles, homes and businesses powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

Mister Bush says he hopes that children born this year will drive hydrogen-powered cars in the future. He says his plan would reduce pollution and America's dependence¹ on oil from other countries. Yet experts say the plan would be successful only if major cost and technology problems can be solved.

The President announced the plan in his State of the Union message in January. He wants Congress to approve more than one-thousand-million dollars for the program. That would include money to develop the systems needed to make, store and transport hydrogen for use in fuel cell vehicles and electric power production.

Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe. Hydrogen is a colorless gas. On Earth, it is present in large amounts in natural gas, coal, plants and water. By weight, hydrogen produces the highest energy levels of any known fuel. When burned in an engine, hydrogen releases no harmful pollution into the environment. When powering a fuel cell, the only waste is water. However, hydrogen is difficult to store. It also burns easily.

The American space agency has used fuel cells to produce electricity since the nineteen-sixties. More recently, some automobile² makers³ have tested hydrogen-powered vehicles. However, hydrogen is four times as costly⁴ to produce as gasoline3, the fuel commonly used in cars and trucks. In addition, fuel cells are now ten times more costly than traditional gasoline-burning engines.

The President's plan seeks to lower that cost enough to make fuel cell cars cost almost the same as gasoline-powered vehicles by two-thousand-ten. The plan also would support methods to produce hydrogen from renewable energy, nuclear energy and coal.

Fuel cell research and development businesses welcomed the President's proposal4. Environmental groups also have praised the plan. They say hydrogen technology can reduce industrial gases linked to global warming. However, some critics say the plan is a way to avoid criticism over Bush administration policies designed to support oil production.

This VOA Special English Environment Report was written by George Grow.
1. hydrogen [5haIdr[udV[n] n. 氢
2. fuel [fju[l] n. 燃料
3. gasoline [5gAs[li:n] n. 汽油
4. proposal [pr[5p[uz[l] n. 提议，建议

1 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

2 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

3 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。