WHAT'S NEW Friday, February 27, 2004

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 27 Feb 04   Washington, DC

1. THE HYDROGEN INITIATIVE: WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO MAKE IT WORK?  
Two years ago, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced the
"Freedom Car" program http://www.aps.org/WN/WN02/wn011802.cfm . 
It was supposed to stimulate development of hydrogen fuel-cell
vehicles, freeing us from reliance on foreign oil.  The big auto
makers pledged their support, but something was missing.  A year
later, President Bush announced a $1.2B Hydrogen Initiative to
produce Freedom Fuel to run the Freedom Car.  The plan calls for
competitive use of hydrogen in commercial transportation by 2020. 
Huge performance gaps in hydrogen engines, production and storage
must be overcome for this to happen.  It is likely that the early
phases of any hydrogen economy will rely on production methods
that use fossil fuels http://www.aps.org/WN/WN03/wn013103.cfm . 
On Monday, a report critiquing the Hydrogen Initiative, prepared
by the APS Panel on Public Affairs, will be released. 

2. ITER: NEGOTIATION DEADLOCKED ON LOCATION OF FUSION FACILITY. 
What happened?  Did I pick up an old newspaper?  Or maybe I just
regained consciousness after 20 years in a coma, but the ITER
soap opera seems awfully familiar.  In 1992, when it came down to
Japan, Germany, or the USA, the Solomonic decision was to chop it
into three pieces http://www.aps.org/WN/WN92/wn073192.cfm .  The
baby did not survive the dismemberment.  The decision of the US
to once again enter into negotiations on ITER was announced by
Spencer Abraham in a speech a year ago at the Princeton Plasma
Physics Laboratory http://www.aps.org/WN/WN03/wn013103.cfm . He
dreamed of fusion plants producing hydrogen "to power hundreds of
millions of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles." The deadlock in picking
a site this time is between Rokkasho, Japan and a European Union
site in Cadarache, France, with the US backing Japan.  Well, you
didn't expect the US to back a site in France did you?   Another
gathering will be held in Vienna next month.

3. FIRST AMENDMENT: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS SECULAR SCHOLARSHIP.
The case involved a Washington State scholarship program that
specifically excludes students preparing for the ministry.  The
7-2 decision was widely regarded as a setback for advocates of
using publicly financed vouchers to pay for religious school
tuition.  The case also has implications for President Bush's
Faith-Based Initiative that would allow church organizations to
compete for government programs.


THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.  
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
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