Rethinking hydrogen cars

Support for hydrogen cars has reached new heights, especially for fuel-cell vehicles that use hydrogen directly. The largest effort is President Bush’s FreedomCAR and Fuel Initiative, which amounts to $1.7 billion over 5 years. Critics suggest the plan is a tactical move to avoid policies such as strict fuel efficiency standards that could be readily implemented today. Here, we take a longer-term strategic view of energy policy and argue against early adoption of hydrogen cars.