655—THE HYDROGEN FUTURE H.R. ACT OF 1995 Y 4. SCI 2: 104/2 H.R. 655-The Hgdrogen Future Act of... HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES U.S. ONE HUNDRED FOURTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION FEBRUARY 1, 1995 [No. 2] Printed for the use of the Committee on Science ^ 3 fcQc . U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 89-067CC WASHINGTON 1995 : ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice.Washington.DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-047012-9 655—THE HYDROGEN FUTURE H.R. Vj ACT OF 1995 M.SCI 2:104/2 H.R. 655-The Hgdrogen Future Act of... HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES U.S. ONE HUNDRED FOURTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION FEBRUARY 1, 1995 [No. 2] Printed for the use of the Committee on Science 7? «gc U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 89-067CC WASHINGTON 1995 : ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice,Washington,DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-047012-9 COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE ROBERT S. WALKER, Pennsylvania, Chairman F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, Jr., GEORGE E. BROWN, Jr., California RMM* Wisconsin RALPH M. HALL, Texas SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT, New York JAMES A. TRAFICANT, Jr., Ohio HARRIS W. FAWELL, Illinois JAMES A. HAYES, Louisiana CONSTANCE A. MORELLA, Maryland JOHN S. TANNER, Tennessee CURT WELDON, Pennsylvania PETE GEREN, Texas DANA ROHRABACHER, California TIM ROEMER, Indiana STEVEN H. SCHIFF, New Mexico ROBERT E. (Bud) CRAMER, Jr., Alabama JOE BARTON, Texas JAMES A. BARCIA, Michigan KEN CALVERT, California PAUL McHALE, Pennsylvania BILL BAKER, California JANE HARMAN, California ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan** DAVID MINGE, Minnesota ZACH WAMP, Tennessee JOHN W. OLVER, Massachusetts DAVE WELDON, Florida ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina LYNN N. RIVERS, Michigan MATT SALMON, Arizona KAREN McCARTHY, Missouri THOMAS M. DAVIS, Virginia MIKE WARD, Kentucky STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas ZOE LOFGREN, California GIL GUTKNECHT, Minnesota LLOYD DOGGETT, Texas ANDREA H. SEASTRAND, California MICHAEL F. DOYLE, Pennsylvania TODD TIAHRT, Kansas SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas STEVE LARGENT, Oklahoma WILLIAM P. LUTHER, Minnesota VAN HILLEARY, Tennessee BARBARA CUBIN, Wyoming MARK ADAM FOLEY, Florida SUE MYRICK, North Carolina David D. Clement, ChiefofStaffand ChiefCounsel Barry Beringer, General Counsel Tish Schwartz, ChiefClerk andAdministrator Robert E. PalmerDemocratic StaffDirector •RankingMinorityMember **Vice Chairman (ID CONTENTS WITNESSES Page February 1, 1995: Hon. Christine A. Ervin, Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Re- newable Energy, DOE, Washington, DC; Alan Lloyd, Chief Scientist, South Coast Air Quality Management District, Diamond Bar, Califor- nia; Edward Trlica, President, Energy Partners, West Palm Beach, Florida; and Robert H. Williams, Senior Research Scientist, Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, Princeton University, Prince- ton, NewJersey 3 Appendix Statement for the record: The Hon. Constance Morella, Chairwoman of the Technology Subcommittee 128 Responses to questions of Chairman Robert S. Walker from Allan Lloyd, Chief Scientist, South Coast Air Quality Management District, Diamond Bar, California 130 Responses to questions of Chairman Robert S. Walker from Edward Trlica, President, Energy Partners, West Palm Beach, Florida 138 Responses to questions of Chairman Robert S. Walker from Robert H. Wil- liams, Senior Research Scientist, Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, NewJersey 139 (III) H.R. 655—THE HYDROGEN FUTURE ACT OF 1995 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1995 House of Representatives, Committee on Science, Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 9:03 a.m. in Room 2318, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Robert S. Walker [chairman ofthe committee] presiding. The Chairman. The Science Committee will come to order for purposes ofthe hearing. Let me apologize at the outset to our witnesses for the lack of large numbers of members in the room this morning. The minority party is caucusing, as is the majority party, and in the case of the majority party we have Al Gore appearing before the majority party, which I think most people thought that, even ifthere wasn't much information, it is going to be a good show, so we will have some people kind of wandering in later on, but for right now we don't have a lot of members in the room, but we will look forward to having them come in and be engaged in the questioning. Let me begin by saying good morning and welcome to our wit- nesses and the members and the guests. Today's hearing is to re- ceive testimony on H.R. 655, the Hydrogen Future Act of 1995. We have a distinguished panel of witnesses, and I am looking forward to the testimony and the questioning from our members. A sustainable energy economy requires nondepletable resources which in turn requires a flexible, nonpolluting form of energy. Our Nation is looking for a virtually limitless supply of clean, efficient energy. The question is, where do we find it. Hydrogen is the en- ergy source of the future. Because hydrogen is readily available from water and combusts leaving no noxious fumes but only water, we have a replacement fuel for our fossil-based economy. Hydrogen has the potential of being used in as many ways and more as any available fossil fuel without the environmental costs. The major challenges to its use are finding an efficient means of converting primary energy sources to hydrogen while avoiding ad- verse environmental and other impacts and the lack of a compact, efficient means ofstoring hydrogen for mobile and stationary appli- cations. H H.R. 655, the Hydrogen Future Act, directs the Secretary of Energy to enhance the small Department of Energy hydrogen pro- gram. The Hydrogen Future Act will give added direction and fund- ing stability by focusing Federal research on the basic scientific (l) — fundamentals needed to provide the foundation for private sector investment and development. The bill will not add to the deficit because it requires total au- thorization for the Department of Energy's Energy Supply Re- search and Development Account for fiscal years 1996, 1997, and 1998 be limited to no more than the total amount obligated for fis- cal year 1995. Briefly, I want to add that last year, with the cooperation of our ranking member, Mr. Brown, I introduced an almost identical bill. The bill is essentially the same as last year's which passed the House and was drafted to attract bipartisan support. So far, I have been somewhat disappointed that Mr. Brown has yet to be able to cosponsor the bill this year, but I am hopeful that the hearing will provide some additional information that will attract his cosponsor- ship as well as some of that from other members of the minority side, and I certainly extend to everyone on the committee an invita- tion to work with me on supporting this legislation through the House. Mr. Brown, in particular, has a long history of support of hydrogen R&D which is well known, and we certainly want to make this into a cooperative, bipartisan effort wherever we can. Before I introduce our witnesses I would like to recognize Mr. Brown for any comments he would like to make. Mr. Brown. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I do ap- preciate your kind words with regard to my previous support and for hydrogen research and our cooperation together in this area. I share his enthusiasm for the role that hydrogen may play in solving our Nation's long-term energy problems. Next week the committee will mark up the bill. While I did cosponsor the program in the past, I did not cosponsor H.R. 655, and let me just briefly explain why. It has nothing to do with the hydrogen research as- pects ofthe bill. I would thoroughly support those. I am a notorious exponent of big spending on research, and this falls well within that category. However, the problem I have and which I had last year on some legislation is that there is an effort in this bill to put a cap on a major part of the Department of Energy spending. Now I am not necessarily opposed to doing that, except I would like to know what the impact is, and I have not been able to find that out at the present time. I hope that as I get further information with regard to the im- pact ofa cap such as this, which is based upon fiscal year 1995 out- lays, to be able to determine whether or not the effect is such that it would cause me to be able to cosponsor this bill. I hope the chair- man will keep his invitation open, because I would very much like to cosponsor the bill, and we willjust see how that plays out. I have no further remarks, Mr. Chairman, except I ask unani- mous consent to revise and extend, and if anyone else on my side would like to have some time, why The Chairman. Yes, without objection on the unanimous consent. I would welcome opening statements from any other member that feels that they would like to participate in opening statements this morning. The Chairman. If there are no further opening statements, we will then proceed with our distinguished panel of witnesses. From the Department of Energy we have with us Christine A. Ervin, as- sistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy. Our witnesses from the science community and industry include Dr. Alan Lloyd, chiefscientist for the South Coast Air Quality Manage- ment District in Diamond Bar, California; Mr. Ed Trlica, president ofEnergy Partners from West Palm Beach, Florida; and Dr. Robert H. Williams, senior research scientist at the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies in Princeton, New Jersey. It is my understanding that Mr. Trlica is a constituent of Mr. Foley. Do you wish to say anything with regard to Mr. Trlica's presence with us this morning, Mr. Foley? Mr. Foley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and obviously thank you for Mr. Trlica making thejourney to Washington. We are indeed proud of the company, Energy Partners, its loca- tion in Palm Beach County, and Mr. Perry's commitment towards the development of alternative fuel sources, his personal commit- ment over $25-$30 million out of personal funds to make this dream a reality, and I applaud his coming to Washington to be with us today. The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Foley. I would remind our witnesses that we encourage you in the strongest possible terms to limit your oral statements to five to seven minutes, and we will include all of the written material that you have submitted for the record so that you are assured that we have the full range of your opinions on this, but it does give us more time to get in questions if you can limit your opening state- ments. We thank you for that, and we will begin with Secretary Ervin. STATEMENTS OF HON. CHRISTINE A. ERVIN, ASSISTANT SEC- RETARY, ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, WASHINGTON, D.C.; ALAN LLOYD, CHIEF SCIENTIST, SOUTH COAST AIR QUALITY MAN- AGEMENT DISTRICT, DIAMOND BAR, CALIFORNIA; EDWARD TRLICA, PRESIDENT, ENERGY PARTNERS, WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA; AND ROBERT H. WILLIAMS, SENIOR RE- SEARCH SCIENTIST, CENTER FOR ENERGY AND ENVIRON- MENTAL STUDIES, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY Ms. Ervin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the com- mittee. I am very pleased to be here this morning to talk about the Department of Energy programs for hydrogen and also to talk spe- cifically about this bill, the Hydrogen Future Act of 1995. I would like to introduce the deputy assistant secretary for utili- ties, Karl Rabago, right behind me, and Dr. Marvin Gunn, who for- merly oversaw the energy management programs in my office and is now directing my Management of Resources Office for me. I know he has testified before this committee in the past. I would like to start by expressing my strong appreciation to Chairman Walker and to members ofthis committee for your lead- ership in recognizing the potential offered by hydrogen. The De- partment recognizes this potential as well and concurs in the vision of the Hydrogen Technical Advisory Panel that hydrogen will join electricity in the 21st century as a primary energy carrier in the Nation's sustainable energy future. The mission then of the DOE-sponsored hydrogen research is to encourage and support the development of safe, practical, and eco- nomically competitive hydrogen technologies and systems to meet transitional and large-scale energy needs. Since its inception 15 years ago, the hydrogen program has evolved into, I think, a truly innovative strategic effort that draws heavily from industry, from the Hydrogen Technical Advisory Panel, and from other experts. Now let me turn to general comments on the bill. The Depart- ment supports the major thrust of the findings the purposes and programmatic goals of this bill. We are concerned, however, that the detailed provisions ofthe bill tend to be overly prescriptive and may inadvertently restrict opportunities for the Hydrogen Tech- nical Advisory Panel and industry to shape and help direct this evolving research and development program. We would be happy to work with you, with the members of this committee, on the bill to maintain flexibility in meeting the commonly shared goals of Con- gress, the Department ofEnergy, and industry as a whole. Now let me address the specific provisions of the bill. The De- partment recognizes the importance of developing and demonstrat- ing technologies for hydrogen production, storage, and use as de- scribed in sections 5(b), 5(c), 5(d), and 5(e) ofthis bill. However, the Department strongly believes that the timing and the selection of technologies for demonstration projects should be based to a great extent upon input from industry and the Hydrogen Technical Advi- sory Panel rather than as specifically prescribed in the bill. The requirement contained in section 5(f) for issuance of a solici- tation within 180 days after enactment ofthe bill may also be over- ly restrictive. The Department believes that the best course of ac- tion is to issue solicitations for new research and development ac- tivities in accordance with its hydrogen program plan and imple- mentation plan which does lay out a schedule for solicitations on particular technologies. The Department is in general agreement with the provisions of sections 5(g), 5(h), sections 6 and 7 regarding cost sharing, duplica- tion ofefforts, highly innovative technologies, and technology trans- fer. Regarding section 8 of the bill, the Department produces sum- mary reports on the research and development activities as well as activities of the advisory panel and of course would be happy to make any and all ofthose reports available to Congress. The Department also agrees with the coordination and coopera- tion provisions required under section 9 ofthe bill. Now section 10 repeals sections 104 and 105 ofthe Spark Matsu- naga Hydrogen Research Development Demonstration Act. These sections did provide priority to hydrogen production technologies based upon renewable energy sources, and the Department believes that these production technologies should remain a priority in the program. Section 11(a) is in agreement with our planning activities at the Department. However, section 1Kb) defines the appropriations will be distributed, and that may be overrestrictive, could limit the ef- fectiveness ofthe Hydrogen Research and Development Program.