Chua Taik Him, the engineering director of Singapore's Economic Development Board, said the money would be used to build facilities, conduct research and develop alternative energy sources such as hydrogen fuel cells for cars. Chua said that Singapore's initiative to develop green energy sources would go beyond the automotive industry, because fuel cells can also be used as stationary generators to produce electricity. The automaker says it will put a fleet of 10 to 20 fuel cell cars on the road in Singapore. The cars are also being tested in Europe, the United States and Japan. A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that combines hydrogen fuel and oxygen from the air to produce electricity that can power a car.
Promoters say fuel cells create no polluting particles or gases, and emit only water as exhaust.
Chua said DaimlerChrysler has indicated that the fuel cell cars would be ready to go into wider distribution by 2004. Chua said the Singapore government had spoken with all the major players in the car manufacturing industry who are researching alternative power sources for vehicles. However, he declined to name the auto companies. Copyright 2001 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.