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US president Bush delivered his annual state of the union address
last Tuesday night while many people tuned in to the news in order
to find out some hints as to what could be the next US move on Iraq.
I did not watch the address but read several articles about it, and
personally I think, as much of an impact as the US foreign policy
towards Iraq has on Turkey now, the US energy policy will be the
main factor shaping the two countries relations in the upcoming
years.
"Tonight I am proposing $1.2 billion in research funding so that
America can lead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered
automobiles said Bush and he continued; "A simple chemical reaction
between hydrogen and oxygen generates energy, which can be used to
power a car producing only water, not exhaust fumes. With a new
national commitment, our scientists and engineers will overcome
obstacles to taking these cars from laboratory to showroom so that
the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by
hydrogen, and pollution-free. Join me in this important innovation
to make our air significantly cleaner, and our country much less
dependent on foreign sources of energy." [1]
Although this sounded like sci-fi to many, the hydrogen-powered
automobiles are nothing new. A few automobile manufacturers such as
Chrysler, Ford and Honda have been working on it for years. Chrysler
announced its prototype version of a minivan called Natrium in
December 2001. Hydrogen-powered Natrium minivan is using a fuel cell
technology based on borax, a substance which exists in Turkey in
abundance. The technology was developed by a small company called
Millenium Cell Inc. based in New Jersey [2]. In a press release
issued a day after the state of the union address, Millennium Cell
Inc. welcomed President Bush s new initiative for a research fund to
speed up the development of hydrogen-powered automobiles [3].
Millenium Cell has business relationships with several leading
companies including US Borax, which is the main provider of borates
in the world market. The two companies are discussing possible
research joint ventures. US Borax is owned by the world s largest
mining company Rio Tinto [4] and Rio Tinto happened to be in
alliance with a North American company called Anatolia Minerals
Development Ltd. (AMDL) which is in control of mining projects
covering more than 4,800 square miles in Turkey (about 2% of whole
Turkey) [5].
Mr. Bush s initiative is aimed at making the first car to be driven
by an American child born today to be a hydrogen-powered car and
aimed at decreasing US dependence on foreign energy sources. While
this policy will possibly decrease US dependence on the Middle
Eastern fossil fuels in the future, it will make them heavily
dependent on Turkey, which has almost 80% of world s borax reserves.
But ironically, Mr. Bush is not considering Turkey as a foreign
energy source.
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References:
[1] President Bush, State of the Union Address, January 28, 2003, US
Department of Energy Web Page:
http://www.eren.doe.gov/freedomfuel
[2] Mark Cropper, Fuel Cell Today, Dec 12, 2001,
http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/FuelCellToday/IndustryInformation/Industry
[3] Millenium Cell Inc. News Release, Jan 29, 2003,
http://www.millenniumcell.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?function=detail&id=01292003
[4] Millenium Cell Inc. News Release, April 20, 2001,
http://www.millenniumcell.com/news/articles/031401.php &
US Borax Web Page:
http://www.borax.com/borax1.php
[5] Anatolia Minerals Development Ltd. Web Page:
http://www.anatolia-minerals.com/
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