Publication date: 23-December-2003 
Source: Associated Press

Toyota vice presidents and senior engineers visited Los Alamos National Laboratory, and later the state Capitol, where Gov. Bill Richardson drove their prototype, as they stopped Monday in New Mexico while looking for potential hydrogen-power research sites around the country.

Bill Reinert, national manager for Toyota's Advanced Technologies Group in Torrance, Calif., said hydrogen power could revolutionize business.

"If hydrogen works - and there's no guarantee it will work - it's a fundamental shift," he said.

Fuel cells produce electricity through a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, creating heat and water as byproducts. One significant hurdle: figuring out how to store the hydrogen.

Even with major advances in fuel-cell technology, it could be decades before a vehicle hits the market.

Reinert said developing hydrogen power will take private-public partnerships.

Los Alamos researchers helped design some of the key innovations that have made hydrogen fuel cells more efficient and economically feasible.

"There are certain breakthrough technologies that have to happen for hydrogen fuel cells to become safe and economic and accessible," Economic Development Secretary Rick Homans said. "And that kind of research is what's taking place at Los Alamos."

Researchers, environmentalists and politicians see fuel-cell vehicles as a way to obtain limitless energy, clean air and freedom from oil dependence in the Middle East.

The vehicle the Toyota delegation showed off looked just like the company's normal Highlander.

"This is amazing, really, to see this technology work, and to see it work in a vehicle of this size," said Piotr Zelenay, who has studied fuel-cell applications for years at Los Alamos. "It runs just like a regular car, with one difference: It's quiet."

The Toyota officials met with representatives of the Hydrogen Technology Partnership and heard about research efforts at Sandia National Laboratories, White Sands Missile Range and New Mexico universities. Homans met with Toyota officials during a recent trip to Asia.

"The only promise we got was a promise to continue talking. When you are recruiting somebody to your state, that's what you want to hear," Homans said.

Richardson sparked the New Mexico visit by contacting Toshikaki Taguchi, president and CEO of Toyota Motor, North America.

"We want to become the hydrogen fuel cell research center in America," the governor said.