Problems still exist with certain alternative fuels

The opinion column, "United States must take head out of sand, research other fuel sources" by Shane Krouse, (SN 6/21), overlooks significant problems with certain alternative fuels. I agree the United States needs to turn to renewable energy sources, but the author's statement about hydrogen fuel lacks the vision beyond just developing the technology.
The statement "Hydrogen is more abundant than fossil fuels and would be cheaper and more efficient for vehicular consumption" is problematic.
There are problems with producing hydrogen. Hydrogen is produced using two methods. The first method is electrolysis of water, probably the most common method that comes to mind when thinking of hydrogen. This process involves splitting the oxygen atom from the two parts hydrogen in a water molecule. When people talk about the prospects of filling their cars up with water, this is the method that would be used if the technology were to develop.
The second method of producing hydrogen is similar to the first in the sense that it involves taking one element and separating the hydrogen.
But the catch is the hydrogen comes from fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas. This method of production does little to offset the problem of energy dependence, and it doesn't offer a clean alternative to oil.
Unlike E85 ethanol, the automotive industry currently lacks any type of production models for hydrogen vehicles. Getting hydrogen vehicles on the road will require a significant amount of money spent on research and development.
The biggest hurdle for automotive manufacturers is the development of proton exchange membrane, or PEM, fuel cells for the vehicles. The problem with the PEM fuel cells is that they use platinum, a very expensive metal, as a catalyst to start the reaction between oxygen and hydrogen for the fuel.
The delivery method of hydrogen, in either its gaseous or liquid form, will require an entirely new infrastructure to be built in the United States and a radical new engineering process for vehicles that will require extensive additional investments to the automotive industry.
It is easy to say that you could throw $100 billion dollars at a problem and fix it. In some instances, you can do this when technology is available, but tossing money at a problem like this can't instantly produce results when the solution to get these results is human innovation.
The United States is addicted to oil as President Bush said in his State of the Union address. E85 is a great step in weaning the United States off of its oil addiction. The problem is solvable not only by the federal government throwing money at the issue, but also with a change in our habits.
Let me address the largest misconception about where the United States gets its crude oil. The top countries the United States imports crude oil from are as follows: Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Iraq.
Most of the oil does not come from the Middle East, but from Canada and Mexico.
Also, Krouse's example of Senator Ted Kennedy is completely wrong. You cannot say that these elected officials do not care for their votes when referencing Senator Kennedy on the Cape Cod issue. Senator Kennedy is from Massachusetts, where Cape Cod is located, and the site of the proposed wind-power farm, where people that elected the senator are protesting its development.
Phillip Tularakinternational relations junior