Editorial: Hydrogen is the big prize

Friday, May 12, 2006 | 7:22 a.m.

Big prizes can be the mother of invention.

In a story this week the San Francisco Chronicle reminded us that builders of the transcontinental railroad in the 1860s picked up federal prizes of per-mile subsidies and land grants for accomplishing the feat.

Charles Lindbergh was motivated by a $25,000 prize when he successfully flew nonstop from New York to Paris in 1927. Two years ago a private team rose to the challenge of a $10 million prize and successfully sent a manned craft into space twice within two weeks.

These success stories are motivating Congress to consider offering $50 million worth of prizes to those whose inventions bring the nation closer to the time when hydrogen as an automotive fuel is practical.

The House voted 416-6 this week in favor of the idea. We hope the Senate shows the same imagination and also approves these prizes, which would be awarded separately from already-budgeted hydrogen research grants. We believe American inventors are up to the challenge, and we hope they quickly produce results.

Oil is obviously not a permanent answer to our energy needs, and alternative fuels such as ethanol should be viewed primarily as stopgaps. Hydrogen, clean and inexhaustibly abundant, is the ultimate prize we should all be after.