[Ip-health] House Passes ‘H-Prize’ Bill for Energy Rese arch

[James Love]

Prize bill for clean energy passes the US House, 408-8.  Jamie

http://public.cq.com/docs/cqt/news110-000002525938.html

  CQ TODAY
June 6, 2007 – 4:06 p.m.
House Passes ‘H-Prize’ Bill for Energy Research
By Kathryn A. Wolfe, CQ Staff

The government would offer a series of cash prizes for innovations in
hydrogen energy under a bill the House passed Wednesday.

The bill (HR 632), by Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill., would be intended to
bring clean-burning hydrogen-powered vehicles closer to reality. It
passed by a 408-8 vote. “The future possibilities of this energy
source are enormous,” Lipinski said.

Hydrogen emits no pollutants when burned, but its storage and
transportation present technological challenges.

The government-sponsored competition, which would be called the “H-
Prize,” is modeled after the programs of the Ansari X Prize
Foundation, which gives multimillion-dollar awards to teams that
achieve specific scientific and engineering goals.

Lipinski pointed out that such prizes continue a tradition dating
back to famed aviator Charles Lindbergh. Lindbergh, competing against
other aviators, attempted his most well-known feat — the first
successful solo, nonstop flight between New York City and Paris — in
an effort to win a $25,000 purse.

Every two years, H-Prizes worth $1 million would be given in four
categories: production, storage, distribution and utilization. One $4
million prize would be awarded for hydrogen vehicles. At the end of
10 years, a $10 million grand prize would be given for a
“transformational advance in hydrogen energy technology.”

Lipinski’s measure would authorize $52 million total for the
competition, including $2 million in administrative costs, from
fiscal 2008 through 2017. The Energy Department would be directed to
contract with a nonprofit entity to administer the contest and set
criteria for the prizes.

The House Science and Technology Committee approved the bill May 23.

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James Packard Love
Knowledge Ecology International
james.love@keionline.org
Wk +1.202.332.2670, US cell +1.202.361.3040, Geneva Cell +41.76.413.6584