President Bush signs the 2005 Energy Policy Act Photo Courtesy of Eric Draper/White House

On August 8, 2005, President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act into law at the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The bill charts the course for US energy production and consumption. The bill designates 3.23 billion for hydrogen related activities. Section VIII of the bill, the Spark M. Matsunaga Hydrogen Act of 2005, is summarized as follows :

• Directs the Secretary of Energy, Samuel W. Bodman, to conduct a broad-based research program supporting private sector efforts in hydrogen and fuel cell development, including production, storage, distribution and use of hydrogen; and fuel cell applications for transportation and stationary uses.
• Sets a goal of enabling the private sector to make a commercialization decision on fuel cell vehicle production hydrogen for transportation by 2015.
• Requires enhanced public education and university research in fundamental sciences, application design and systems concepts, including materials, subsystems, manufacturability, maintenance and safety.
• Directs the Secretary to transfer critical hydrogen and fuel cell technologies to the private sector and to foster the exchange of non-proprietary information.
• Establishes demonstration programs for hydrogen technologies and fuel cell vehicles for light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles.
• Supports the timely development of safety codes and standards related to fuel cell vehicles, hydrogen energy systems, and stationary fuel cells.