Alternative fuels still in first gear

The panel members, who gathered here Monday at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Opportunity Forum, said that the automobile and energy industries have a long way to go to meet government targets to reduce dependence on foreign sources of fuel and to lower polluting emissions.

The FreedomCar & Vehicle Technologies Program, funded by the Department of Energy, calls for “leap-frog” technologies in a range of areas, including batteries, material technologies and fuels. It has a series of specific targets, such as developing new materials to reduce the weight of vehicles by 50 percent while improving recycling of parts.

zdnet