| TECHNOLOGY |
Dow Chemical and General Motors are planning to test GM's fuel-cell technology at Dow's Freeport, Texas, plant. The tests will commence during the fourth quarter of this year and run through 2005. If testing is successful, Dow will use 500 GM fuel-cell units to generate up to 35 MW of electricity--enough, the companies say, to power 25,000 homes for a year and representing 2% of energy use at Dow's Freeport operations. The hydrogen consumed by the fuel cells will be a by-product of Dow's operations. The company sees fuel cells as an alternative to natural gas, which suffers from price volatility. For GM, the program is part of an effort to lower the cost of fuel cells so they can compete with the internal combustion engine by the end of the decade
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