Its about time!
Now if we can elect a President that will make this a National priority!

LOS ANGELES - City Councilman Bill Rosendahl drove into a corner gas station with a big grin on his face. He stepped out of a sports utility vehicle, pumped fuel into the tank and declared it "the most joyous moment I've had since being elected to office."

That's because Rosendahl was marking the opening of California's first retail hydrogen station on Thursday, and the Chevrolet Equinox he was riding in emits nothing but water vapor.

"This is the car of the future," he said. "Let's get rid of gasoline."

While there are few hydrogen powered fuel-cell vehicles on the road now, supporters hope the station will show the public that hydrogen can become a mainstream, eco-friendly alternative to petroleum. State officials see it as part of the "Hydrogen Highway," a developing network of fueling stations to promote commercialization of hydrogen-powered cars.

"It was only a few years ago that this was just a concept, now you can see it, touch it and feel it," Fred Joseck, technology analyst of the U.S. Department of Energy's hydrogen program, said at the opening ceremony.

The Shell station near Interstate 405, which was charging $4.59 per gallon of regular gas Thursday, features one pump with a bright blue "Hydrogen" label above a video monitor that dispenses the fuel by the kilogram. Hydrogen is made and stored in a tank above the dispenser.

For now, the fuel is available to roughly 100 hydrogen-powered vehicles on the road in California, all of them being used in demonstration programs by motor companies, said Roy Kim, a spokesman with the California Fuel Cell Partnership. Because all the cars are in those programs, drivers won't be charged for filling up at the station.

General Motors Corp. has 80 Chevrolet Equinox fuel-cell vehicles in California, Washington, D.C., and the New York City metropolitan area as part of its "Project Driveway" market test. BMW has lent several Hydrogen 7 Series sedans to Hollywood celebrities to tool around town, and soon Honda plans to lease 200 FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell cars for $600 a month.

There are 25 other hydrogen stations in the state, but they're mostly fenced off and designed to service these experimental fleets. The Shell hydrogen station, part of a regular gas station, is the first that's open to the public on the West Coast and has a visitor center to educate drivers about the use of hydrogen cars. Shell operates another retail station in Washington, D.C.

Auto makers have said a key hurdle to mass producing the cars is the cost and lack of hydrogen filling stations.

"That's where we really need to start building a hydrogen infrastructure," said Analisa Bevan, chief of the sustainable transportation technology branch of the California Air Resources Board. "We're hearing from the automakers that a core network of about 10 stations would work well to support early users of hydrogen, and then growing that network to about 40 stations would meet the needs of the vast majority of Los Angeles-area drivers."

To that end, the Air Resources Board will provide $7.7 million to help fund the opening of three more hydrogen fueling stations, Bevan said.



McCain wants to open more offshore oil drilling with the problems that will make for the enviornment!
How ridiculous when we can make this a reality in a much shorter time!

remember the Hindenburg?

That danger doesnt exist with this technology!

Wow that's awesome!! I wonder how much it cost for him to fill up his tank with that compared to gasoline?

I dont know.

For now, the fuel is available to roughly 100 hydrogen-powered vehicles on the road in California, all of them being used in demonstration programs by motor companies, said Roy Kim, a spokesman with the California Fuel Cell Partnership. Because all the cars are in those programs, drivers won't be charged for filling up at the station.

And the money wont go to the Middle East!!!

Figure in the effects on environmental pollution impact and legislation. Its got to be a improvement full of savings.

while this is great news we all know 90 percent of us will not be able to afford one of these cars so where's the joy?

They are actually not much more expensive than any other car!

Plus the price will come down. Its kinda of like when VCR's and DVD players first came out and they cost over $400 dollars. As manufactures geared up their factories to produce them the price dropped and now you can buy them for 70 dollars.
These cars will see a reduction in cost as well. Especially with a committed gov behind them pushing to responsibly reform our needs!

President Obama will make this a National Priority akin to the space race or the development of the Atomic Bomb!

McCain will try to open up more offshore drilling for archaic fossils fuels and the destruction of marine life and our beautiful coastlines. That is irresponsible when this technology exists now and could be a reality in a shorter time than we will ever see the oil taken from the oceans.
Plus, by the time he gets it out of the ground gasoline will cost at least $10 a gallon!
These cars dont sound so expensive when you consider all the facts!

so you think the fuel canisters are going to be made out of cloth stretch over an aluminium frame

interesting

maybe remember appolo 13 would be more appropriate

but who knows (i do not think it could be less appropriate

Funny how I dont see any McCain supporters posting the open offshore drilling crap on here!

HMmmmmmm

bump!!

Let's drill for oil!!!

This technology can't be proven! In fact, I don't believe there is such a thing called hydrogen! It's just a liberal fantasy gas! You leftist pinkos stop this nonsense immediately!!!

I've read my Bible cover to cover, and it mentions the word 'oil' many times, therefore I believe in oil! I NEVER saw the word hydrogen!? Please... Must be the same hack who invented 'global warming'... Indeed...

God made the dinosaurs so that we could have light sweet crude! Stop reading the news, and just watch reality TV and Fox News. That's ALL you need to know...

And don't worry, if this so-called 'global warming' of yours ever happens, don't sweat it... The rapture will occur, and all us Republicans will be driving SUVs with Jesus.

Cars can run on water. (Hydrogen + 1 Oxygen). HHO Take a look at the following sites for additional information.

http://hybridfuelreview.info/?id=B227041