Looks like the beginning of a trend toward realism:

One of the most senior forward-thinkers at Europe’s bigger car-maker … Volkswagen’s head of research Dr Jurgen Leohold told Autocar that he thinks fuel cell cars like VW’s own HyMotion Touran research car are not the future of alternative power, and are only really being developed as a sop to ever-tightening emissions laws in places such as California.

Describing them as a “marketing exercise,” he said their inherent problem lies with producing
the hydrogen fuel to power them, and in establishing an infrastructure of hydrogen filling stations. “Because hydrogen has to be produced using existing power, CO2 emissions are still an issue,” he said.

Ouch!

But if not hydrogen, what could possibly be the answer?

Instead, Dr Leohold reckons the immediate future of alternative power for cars lies with biofuels
and beyond that with battery power, and we’ll see huge improvements in battery technology in the next five years. “You can see it already in mobile phone and computer batteries,” he said.

It would be nice if GM or Honda would make such a statement.

Related nails in the coffin posts:

• Dream of hydrogen car goes down in flames
• Climate Progress Dehypes Hydrogen Again
• The Car of the Future: Plug-in Hybrids
• The Hype About Hydrogen: Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate

Climate change is an issue with many dimensions — political, scientific, social, economic. As Al Gore and others have noted, it also is a moral issue. Its moral dimension is gradually being articulated within the climate action movement. It’s worthwhile to take a break from science and politics to focus on the softer side of this profoundly important issue.

For example, take the call to action issued by 1Sky, an emerging coalition of environmental, social justice, religious and other leaders who plan to mobilize 1 million Americans around a positive vision of climate action:

Calling America: It’s our time

This year, 2007, right now, marks a turning point in human history. We have arrived at a clearly marked crossroads. Our defining challenge, our greatest opportunity, is now. We have only 1 sky.

We can turn toward a brighter future — a new, durable prosperity in healthy communities, an economy that sustains abundance and shares it well. Or we can barrel ahead toward climate disruption, economic decline, growing inequality, and growing insecurity. This crossroads is brightly lit. We cannot fail to see it. And we cannot miss the turn.

Read more