European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 19, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday june 19, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 3his dreams Are 100% Hydrogen pioneering inventor touts pollution free autos Blue Springs to. A the ignition sounds like a refrigerator kicking on. The motor has no moving parts. T lie exhaust is just water vapor. But the Best thing about Roger Billings latest Hydrogen powered car he says is that it can someday be cheaper to run than gasoline cars. This week he unveils a new Hydrogen fuel cell car lie built in a Large Cavern that houses his Laboratory on the outskirts of this Kansas City suburb. A when an egg hatches before the Birds out and moving around you hear it chirping and you see its beak breaking through a Billings said. A a that a kind of where this technology is right now. In be seen things happen that in be dreamed about for  indeed Billings is a dreamer. He wants to Pioneer a pollution free society based on Energy from Hydrogen a an odourless colourless Gas and the lightest and simplest atom known. His timing  be better. The drive for alternative fuels is accelerating worldwide. The largest . Automakers say their priority research is on cars that use electricity alcohol and compressed natural Gas. Billings plans to unveil his modified Ford fiesta on wednesday in Harrisburg a. Me chose that location be cause the Pennsylvania Energy office was a main sponsor of its development. His vision is respected by Many in his Field. But some say his Talent for Selling ideas is greater than his ability to follow through on them. A what he docs is Well regarded and taken seriously by people in the Hydrogen Community a said Joan Ogden a physicist at the Center for Energy and environmental studies at Princeton University. Ogden said european automakers Bow and Mercedes Benz Are working on Hydrogen powered prototypes David Swan assistant director of Texas a amp mrs Hydrogen research unit said Billings had Many interesting ideas but often comes up Short of documentation. A the trouble with Billings is no one knows what he a doing a Swan said. Quot he a made a lot of claims in the past that he Hasni to lived up  Billings said his car will need a few More years of testing but with proper investment it could be ready for mass production this decade. Many consider Hydrogen Loo exotic and expensive for cars of the 1990s. But Billings has been a believer since his Days at Brigham Young University in i ovo Utah 20 years ago. He developed the Billings Energy corp. To make computers and Market his Hydrogen research but the company was taken Over in 1984 by stockholders unhappy with his management. Billings then moved into an aban do cd Limestone Quarry and founded the american Academy of science a a privately funded research organization where he and a team of mechanics worked on the car for the past five years. Interviewed in his office Billings outlined the Price the United states pays for its love of cars pollution foreign Oil dependence and Trade deficits. Billings said his car would eliminate the internal combustion engine and pollution worries. It runs on a fuel cell a Small Box that converts Hydrogen and. Air into electricity to drive the motor. The Only byproduct is water he said last week he allowed a reporter a ride in the White Hatchback. The ride is not much different front the smallest Economy cars. Billings claimed that its limited Speed a 55 Mph a is due to old technology in Fords electric car not the fuel clean running Hydrogen cars Arentt a new. A a a a researchers have been making them for years. But no one has made one that is practical to own because Hydrogen is so expensive to produce and store. Billings theorizes that Hydrogen pow Rcd cars can be Cost effective. Even though Hydrogen is a More costly fuel lie says the new efficiency of ins car allows it to get More Miles out of Hydrogen than the Dollar equivalent in gasoline. A # _ a amps Peggy Davidson maj. David a. Davis right gets pointers from Gerhard sctt caring on How the German train system works. Kaiserslautern Germany a maj. David a. Davis spends his Days working on the Railroad. But lie does no to Wear Denim coveralls a red Bandanna and holler �?oall-1-1 Aboo Oard a As trains chug out of the station. Instead wearing a suit and carrying an appointment notebook he s learning about a train system that Fosters efficiency by making smarter use of its people and resources. Davis an army transportation officer is working full time with the German Bun Desbah in the Kaiserslautern area As part of the army a training with Industry program. / officials at the army personnel come said Davis is the first army officer to train with an Industry in Europe. A a second european Industry Slot will open in the fall when an officer begins working with Frances Central european operating Agency in the fall. In All the army has More than 100 officers working with various industries annually. The army benefits from the program in two ways said a spokesman at tie 2jst Quot theater army area come in Kaiserslautern. The officers get to watch and learn leadership skills and business techniques from the industries and the army gains better understanding of companies with which it does business. Davis describes his Job As a learning How they do things a from scheduling trains to making up work plans for employees to accounting for  Bince september 1990, Davis has visited work sections within the train system to learn How each accomplishes its Job. This summer he plans to ride the rails to trance Belgium Luxembourg and the Eastern part of Germany to a see How they  As pan of the agreement Between the army and the bundles Banj Davis not Only has an office but was supplied with a ticket to ride wherever the Bun Desbah to a a it e 1 s. Learning Railroad terminology in German has been one of the tougher aspects of assignment. "1 still  Tel you what some words Are in English a he said a and in a still learning  a. Is admitted that some of the highly technical jargon is Dill cult to understand regardless of the language. A i hasten real hard a lie said. A even in English i p of Oak  understand  for instance  is a system for tracking the location and Speed of the trains Davis said but translating the word directly into English leaves you with gibberish. Another word a or Colbock a is the noun for a the thing that is put at the track end. It stops the train from going off the end of the track a lie said. A no one from the transportation command seemed to know if we have an English word for  but understanding All the technical aspects of the German train system Isnit the ultimate goal of Davis assignment. What he has Learned and plans to take Back to the army is a How intensively they manage resources without losing sight of safety a he said. For example Over the last few years Davis said the Bun Desbah has Cut the number of cars on each train when officials realized not All the cars were being used. This led to cutting Down the number of locomotives needed and the number of workers which resulted in even More savings. Another Benefit of his experiences will come when Davis gets his next assignment probably within the 1st trans movement control Agency somewhere in Germany. He foresees his experiences being useful when the army needs the German rail systems support in future Reform cars or real world operations such As operation desert shield storm. A i have an understanding of How the Bun Desbah operates a he said a i can get to the Root of problems quicker. I have an understanding of who makes what  a a f he is the first officer to work with an Industry in Germany but Davis wont be the last. His successor has already been selected and is currently attending German classes at the defense language Institute in Monterey Calif