Letters to the editor

An argument for hydrogen

John E. Haines

Renovo

America proved a hydrogen car worked dependably over 50 years ago, when it drove one around on the moon. There are many advantages to a hydrogen vehicle. First of all it gets zero emissions. Another advantage is that it only takes 4.5 minutes to refuel. And driving a hydrogen car is actually safer then gasoline. Another advantage is that the fuel can be much cheaper, when production is scaled up.

Currently CSX is building a fleet of hydrogen fueled locomotives at their Huntington, W.V. shop. What they do is remove the diesel engine and install a hydrogen motor. The same thing could easily be done right now in Altoona Penna. The rail roads spend more then $3 billion dollars a year on diesel fuel. So you can see the incentive for them to make their own hydrogen.

UPS, FedEx and other trucking companies are investing in hydrogen trucks. Likewise commuter vehicles and mass transportation and school buses would similarly benefit from the use of hydrogen.

Hydrogen is produced in two ways, one is called green, because it uses solar or wind to make hydrogen. The other method is called "blue hydrogen" because it uses natural gas to produce hydrogen. The U.S. currently makes 10 million metric tons per year with the blue method. And Pennsylvania is slated to receive $925 million dollars in federal money to fund hydrogen hubs, which would make Pennsylvania a major player. The hubs which would connect a vast network of hydrogen producers and users, across the Commonwealth. These hubs, were supported by both Sen. Dave McCormick and John Fetterman.

Since Pennsylvania is essentially the Saudi Arabia of natural gas, it only makes sense that we should support hydrogen power. With the high price of gasoline and diesel hydrogen never looked so good. Toyota already has a very nice hydrogen car, called the Marai the only thing it needs is a refueling infrastructure.

In my opinion the time has come to move away from the dirty gasoline internal combustion engine. The future is clean efficient, economical, hydrogen.