H-Prize Wins Again in House

(June 6, 2007)

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The H-Prize Act of 2007 (H.R. 632) sailed through the U.S House again Wednesday afternoon with overwhelming support, 408-8.

Introduced last year by U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC) and during this Congress by Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), The H-Prize Act of 2007 would provide incentives for technological breakthroughs in moving to a hydrogen economy. The grand prize is a total of $10 million in federal funds with up to $40 million to be raised in matching private capital for commercialization.

“We’re hoping that this time’s the charm,” said Inglis. “We got it through the House in the 109th Congress and it stalled in the Senate. This time we’ve worked with key senators and with the Department of Energy to craft a bill that should pass in the Senate and that can be signed by the President.”

Inspired by the successful Ansari X Prize, the H-Prize would spur and help overcome technical challenges related to hydrogen by offering prizes in three categories:

  1. Technological Advancements – Four prizes of up to $1 million awarded biennially in the categories of hydrogen production, storage, distribution and utilization;
  2. Prototypes – One prize of up to $4 million awarded biennially that forces working hydrogen vehicle prototypes to meet ambitious performance goals; and
  3. Transformational Technologies – One grand prize consisting of a $10 million in federal funds and up to $40 million in private funds for the development of wells-to-wheels breakthrough technologies.

The bill would authorize appropriations during fiscal years 2008 through 2017 totaling:

In response to input from key Senate offices and the Department of Energy, the bill was changed to clarify the sale of naming rights for the prizes and to give the Secretary of Energy discretion to set prize criteria and judge selection. The revised bill encourages DOE to take necessary steps to commercialize the prize winning technologies and limits administrative expenses to the first-two years in order to encourage private contributions for future operating costs.