W00t! My letter to the WFP about Jim Rondeau’s comments on the ZENN and hydrogen fuel cells got printed in Saturday’s Free Press, and as the “Letter Of The Day”, no less:

Go electric

Re: Province looks at more fuel efficiency rebates, March 5.

Minister Jim Rondeau needs to look beyond the “hydrogen fuel cell” sound bite for tractable solutions that can succeed in reducing emissions and non-renewable energy consumption in our province. However, he need not look very far.

Manitoba, with our wealth of relatively clean hydroelectric energy, is well poised to use electricity as a clean, renewable energy source for our vehicles. Researchers at Manitoba Hydro and the University of Manitoba have been studying plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) that are charged via the power grid like electric vehicles, but have added range provided by a gasoline hybrid engine. Further, while the ZENN electric vehicle may not be an ideal car for all Manitobans, the introduction of these vehicles in Manitoba would be an important first step in changing public perceptions of electric vehicles.

If our province wishes to “See Green” and take a leadership role in promoting low- and no-emission vehicles, it does not have to rely on exotic and inefficient technologies like hydrogen. The products and technologies necessary to take an important first step in improving vehicle emissions in Manitoba are close at hand. What we need now is the political will of Minister Rondeau and our government to see such initiatives through.

STEPHEN WOODROW
Winnipeg

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 9th, 2008 at 4:16 am and is filed under Goings On, Rants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.