In what U.S. President Barack Obama feels may have been a waste of money, the $1.2 Billion development fund for a fuel cell-powered car that was a brainchild of the previous Bush Administration has been junked.

The issue of fuel cells has been a contentious one, with many believing the technology is of dubious benefit when battery-electric cars offer a far simpler solution. The USA’s newly-minted President agrees, and last Thursday scrapped the fuel cell funding plan set up by former President George W. Bush in 2003.

Instead, President Obama plans to spend just US$68.2 million on fuel cell research – less than half the amount spent last year. With Bush’s US$1.2 billion plan in the bin, a further US$100 million will be saved each year. In contrast, the Bush administration spent a total of $500 million in automotive fuel cell research, with limited results and no prospect of wide-scale adoption of the technology in the near future.

Battery-electrics are the new darling of the Obama administration, with Energy Secretary Steven Chu saying the government wanted to target more “immediate energy-saving solutions”.