GM is conducting a pilot program called Project Driveway that provides 100 hydrogen fuel cell powered cars to drivers in New York, California and Washington, D.C. The vehicle in provided is a hydrogen-powered Chevy Equinox sport utility vehicle.

A writer from the New York Daily News took the vehicle for a test drive and reported, “The Equinox makes a series of mechanical sounds reminiscent of the robot from “Lost In Space,” and off we drive. The brakes are mushy, but the ride is quietly smooth — though not too powerful.”

Hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles have sounded like a great idea for years. We can easily make hydrogen here in the U.S. And vehicles powered by fuel cells emit no harmful gases. Development of the fuel cells still has a ways to go before they are considered viable for mass use in automobiles. Another issue with fuel cell powered vehicles involves refueling. There are a very limited number of hydrogen refueling stations, which is the main reason why Chevy is limiting their pilot to three metro areas.

General Motors isn’t the only major car company with a hydrogen powered vehicle in development. Kia, Mazda, BMW and Honda also have models that they hope to put on the road in large numbers sometime in the future.

Government of Canada Invests Over $13.6 Million in Vancouver’s Fuel Cell Industry “The Government of Canada today announced a $13.6 million investment in the National Research Council (NRC)’s Vancouver-based fuel cell and hydrogen industry and officially opened the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Gateway”

DOE Makes up to $60 Million Available for Concentrating Solar Power Research “DOE announced on April 30 that they would provide up to $60 million for concentrating solar power (CSP) projects in the areas of advanced thermal energy storage or heat transfer fluids, with funding options for both new research and development and demonstrations of technologies already under development.”

Solar Thermal Startup SkyFuel Scores $17M “SkyFuel, an Albuquerque, N.M.-based company that has created a cheap, light material called “ReflecTech” for its sunlight-catching troughs, has raised $17 million in a Series B round of funding from Leaf Clean Energy.”

Ireland’s NTR makes $150-mil investment in US’ Wind Capital Group “Dublin-based NTR, a developer and operator in renewable energy and sustainable waste management, is investing $150 million in Wind Capital Group, a St. Louis-based wind developer, the companies said Thursday.”

Follow all of the clean energy investment news that I pick up around the web by bookmarking my link account at http://del.icio.us/cleanenergydigest/investments.

Autos like the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius were the pioneers in bringing clean technology to automobiles. While interest in hybrid automobile technology has seen relatively slow adoption in the U.S., sales of these and other hybrid cars have been steadily increasing as the price of gasoline has risen above three dollars per gallon.

Car makers are now looking past the standard hybrid technology to a new set of technologies that deliver better fuel economy and lower emissions. Here is a list of some of the cars that may be a part of the next generation of clean automobiles.

Make/Model: Kia Sportage
Technology: Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Due Date: 2012
Links: Kia World, Star Phoenix, Car Keys

Make/Model: Cadillac Provoq
Technology: Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Due Date: TBD
Links: New York Times, AutoBlog, PodTech

Make/Model: Chevrolet Volt
Technology: Plug-in Hybrid
Due Date: 2010
Links: Reuters, Chevrolet, Wikipedia, Detroit Free Press

Make/Model: Ford Escape
Technology: Plug-in Hybrid
Due Date: TBD
Links: Ford, AutoBlogGreen

Make/Model: Tesla Roadster
Technology: Plug-in Electric
Due Date: 2009
Links: Wikipedia, Tesla Motors, Car and Driver