UTC Students Show off Alternative Fuel Car

With gas prices at their usual summer-time high, many of us would like a cheaper alternative at the pump.  And in a news conference you saw today on Newschannel 9, President Barack Obama said he would like our country to become a leader in green energy.  Several University of Tennessee at Chattanooga engineering students are already doing just that.

Among them is Justin McBath.  He and his fellow students have spent two semesters converting a Saturn into a hydrogen hybrid.  "I've always been a gearhead and loved cars growing up so when they gave us this option as a project I jumped right on it," says McBath.  The Saturn now runs on gas, not gasoline.  The tank in the trunk holds enough for a few runs around the track.  And while it can get up to about 30 miles per hour, it's not road-ready yet.  But Justin says that's only a matter of time.  "This hydrogen tank will take us about 40 to 50 miles."  And every one of those miles is clean; no carbon dioxides or monoxides, just environmentally-friendly fumes.  "Nothing but steam coming out of the back, just water," he says.

The Saturn isn't the only project in their lesson plans.  The U.T.C. students are also developing a better way to transfer power to electric buses, including a non-contact station that doesn't require a car to be plugged in.  For Justin, all this just makes sense for the future.  "I feel really proud to do something that helps my environment and I feel like this really helps the country because it gives us more options other than just fossil fuels."

It's that drive for something different that could very well change the way we all get behind the wheel or at least what's left behind when we do.

The U.T.C. Center for Energy, Transportation and the Environment is currently competing with schools like Stanford and M.I.T. for several grants that would fund further research.  Congressman Zach Wamp says with Volkswagen coming to town it only makes sense for Chattanooga to be on the cutting edge.