The United States can benefit greatly from the commercialization of fuel cell technology.
Vehicles powered by fuel cells offer important advantages over conventionally powered vehicles.
It is estimated that a fuel cell system running on gasoline would achieve double the miles per gallon of a conventional vehicle or 50 to 70 miles per gallon. Fuel cells also promise to be very low in emissions. At the heart of the system is an on-board fuel processor that converts methanol to hydrogen. After demonstration in the laboratory, General Motors incorporated the technology into its Zafira concept minivan and first displayed the vehicle at the Paris Autoshow in September 1998. Along with partners Arthur D. Little and Los Alamos National Laboratory, DOE has also demonstrated the potential of fuel-flexible fuel processing.