Ten million dollars is now at stake for engineers, scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs who create breakthrough hydrogen fuel technology in the next 10 years. On Wednesday, the House passed legislation creating the “H-Prize,” modeled after the privately funded Ansari X Prize on a 416-6 vote. A companion bill is to be introduced and is expected to pass in the Senate this week. H-Prize Act would award four prizes of up to $1 million every other year for technological advances in hydrogen production, storage, distribution and utilization. One prize of up to $4 million would be awarded every second year for the creation of a working hydrogen vehicle prototype. The grand prize of $10 million is to be awarded within the next 10 years for breakthrough technology.

Some argue that encouraging hydrogen as an alternative energy source is a mistake because engineers and scientists first have to find a source for extracting hydrogen, which is currently a difficult and energy-intensive process. Authorities would also need to develop a better infrastructure for delivering the hydrogen fuel. Currently, it is not easily transported, requiring very high or very low pressures in tanks or pipes which have yet to be installed on a large scale.

Despite these arguments, the H-Prize should still prove to be beneficial because it creates a real incentive to develop alternative energy sources by establishing a precedent for federally funded prizes of this nature. Read more about the H-Prize here and the Department of Energy’s current hydrogen initiatives here.

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