II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 373 

To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to provide 

for a program to develop and demonstrate the cost-effective operation 

of a fleet of renewable hydrogen passenger vehicles. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2005 

Mr. HARKIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL

To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act 

of 2002 to provide for a program to develop and demonstrate the cost-effective operation of a fleet of renewable hydrogen passenger vehicles.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Renewable Hydrogen 

5 Passenger Vehicle Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RENEWABLE HYDROGEN TRANSPORTATION DEM7 ONSTRATION PROGRAM. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
2

•S 373 IS

1 (1) reductions in local air pollution, greenhouse 

2 gas emissions, and oil imports resulting from the in3 troduction of vehicles with gasoline-powered internal 

4 combustion hybrid electric engines will be only tem5 porary, as improved fuel economy of the hybrid vehi6 cles is offset by increases in vehicle miles traveled; 

7 (2) direct substitution of farm-based renewable 

8 fuels for gasoline in gasoline-powered internal com9 bustion hybrid electric engines will result in further 

10 reductions in local air pollution, greenhouse gas 

11 emissions, and oil imports; 

12 (3) for permanent reductions in criteria pollut13 ants, greenhouse gas emissions, and oil imports, 

14 Congress should establish as a national goal the de15 velopment of renewable hydrogen as a clean effective 

16 energy carrier; 

17 (4) the development of vehicles powered by hy18 drogen derived from domestic renewable resources 

19 such as ethanol, energy crops, agricultural waste, 

20 landfill gas, municipal solid waste, wind power, and 

21 solar electricity, will— 

22 (A) substantially and permanently reduce 

23 local air pollution and greenhouse gas emis24 sions; 
3

•S 373 IS

1 (B) improve the energy security of the 

2 United States; and 

3 (C) create domestic jobs; 

4 (5) notwithstanding paragraph (4), as of the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the fuel cell tech6 nology required to make the most efficient use of re7 newable hydrogen is too costly and has not achieved 

8 the reliability necessary for consumer acceptance in 

9 the near term; 

10 (6) in the near term (before affordable and reli11 able fuel cell vehicles are developed), hydrogen-pow12 ered internal combustion engine hybrid electric vehi13 cles have been developed that can achieve more than 

14 90 percent of the environmental benefits and 100 

15 percent of the oil import reduction benefits of fuel 

16 cell vehicles; 

17 (7) in addition to robust research and develop18 ment for fuel cell vehicles, a program to develop and 

19 demonstrate renewable hydrogen production and dis20 tribution technology is justified; 

21 (8) reforming ethanol at a vehicle fueling sta22 tion may be the least costly method of producing re23 newable hydrogen; 

24 (9) a low cost renewable hydrogen vehicle dem25 onstration program that will yield valuable informa-
4

•S 373 IS

1 tion regarding an interim transition strategy of 

2 using hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine 

3 hybrid electric vehicles to pave the way for fuel cell 

4 vehicles once fuel cell vehicles become affordable and 

5 reliable can be implemented in 1 year; and 

6 (10) the introduction of commercial hydrogen 

7 internal combustion engine hybrid electric vehicles 

8 can provide the economic incentives to help stimulate 

9 development of hydrogen fueling systems at existing 

10 gasoline fueling stations to convert ethanol to hydro11 gen onsite, thereby significantly accelerating the 

12 adoption of super-clean renewable hydrogen as an al13 ternative to gasoline made from imported crude oil. 

14 (b) PROGRAM.—Section 9007 of the Farm Security 

15 and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8107) is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(c) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy, 

19 in coordination with the Secretary, shall conduct a 

20 3-year program to develop and demonstrate the cost21 effective operation of a fleet of at least 10 direct hy22 drogen passenger vehicles based on existing commer23 cial technology under which the hydrogen is derived 

24 from ethanol or other domestic low-cost transport25 able renewable feedstocks. 
5

•S 373 IS

1 ‘‘(2) GOALS.—The goals of the program shall 

2 include— 

3 ‘‘(A) demonstrating the cost-effective con4 version of ethanol or other low-cost transport5 able renewable feedstocks to pure hydrogen 

6 suitable for eventual use in proton exchange 

7 membrane fuel cell vehicles at 1 or more local 

8 fueling stations, including hydrogen compres9 sion and storage necessary to fill vehicle tanks 

10 to their operational pressure, using existing 

11 commercial reforming technology or modest 

12 modifications of existing technology to reform 

13 ethanol or other low-cost transportable renew14 able feedstocks into hydrogen; 

15 ‘‘(B) converting 10 or more commercially 

16 available internal combustion engine hybrid 

17 electric passenger vehicles to operate on hydro18 gen; 

19 ‘‘(C) installing and operating an ethanol 

20 reformer or reformer of another low-cost trans21 portable renewable feedstock (including onsite 

22 hydrogen compression, storage, and dispensing) 

23 at the facilities of a fleet operator not later 

24 than 1 year after commencement of the pro25 gram; 
6

•S 373 IS

1 ‘‘(D) operating the 10 or more hydrogen 

2 internal combustion engine hybrid electric vehi3 cles for a period of 2 years; and 

4 ‘‘(E) collecting emissions and fuel economy 

5 data on the 10 hydrogen-powered vehicles over 

6 various operating conditions and weather condi7 tions. 

8 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

9 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

10 this subsection $5,000,000.’’.

Æ