For many people, the line between science and religion is as distinct as the difference between night and day. Not so for TOYM honoree Roger Billings! “Many of my most interesting mental experiments have come as results of things I have read and pondered in the scriptures, things the prophets have said. I consider that […]
Recently, MOTHER EARTH NEWS sent a staffer and a photographer out to Provo, Utah to talk to Roger Billings, head of the Billings Energy Corporation. Between manufacturing computer systems and doing hydrogen research, Mr. Billings is quite a busy gentleman. Nevertheless, he took the time to discuss the various aspects of hydrogen power with us, including its production and use as a fuel. The points he brought up were interesting enough, but the equipment he demonstrated was even more impressive: it provided us with proof that hydrogen power isn’t just yesterday’s dream, but today’s reality!
When the microprocessor chip came out in the early 1970’s, Billings jumped on the opportunity and developed his own microcomputer line –one of the first. With his new Computer System, he founded the Billings Computer Corporation. Early in his work in the computer field, Billings made a break-through design for a computer networking system which […]
John Wayne had a way of getting things said — and done. Here, with Roger and members of the Billings team, Wayne voiced his support for hydrogen — cowboy style. Even after the oil crisis, some still remembered. John Wayne’s commitment to America was more than movie screen deep. Hot damn! Move over, Arabs, hydrogen […]
The Hydrogen Homestead was a demonstration of hydrogen’s practical application for the home. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by government and industry leaders, including, pictured with Billings, IAHE President Nejat Veziroglu and former HUD Secretary and American Motors Chairman / CEO George Romney. The Homestead project consisted of a two-story residence that was heated and […]
Billings’ work in hydrogen received national attention with the Cadillac Seville that was featured in Jimmy Carter’s Presidential Inaugural Parade. The vehicle was equipped to run on either hydrogen or gasoline — for greater range in the absence of hydrogen refueling stations. Hydrogen was stored in a state-of-the art hydride vessel. Billings drove a hydrogen […]
The Provo-Orem bus was a demonstration of hydrogen’s suitability for mass transportation applications. The larger vehicle could easily accommodate the added weight of the hydrogen stored in metal hydride form. The bus was also a demonstration of hydrogen’s added efficiency in stop-and-go driving – over 80% more efficient than its gasoline counterpart. The prospect of […]
Working for nearly three years in a makeshift basement laboratory, Billings finally emerged with a hydrogen powered lawn mower engine that ran. He nearly backfired himself out of existence — or at least out of his neighbors’ good graces, but he was, nevertheless, encouraged. Near the end of his senior year at Provo High, he brought forth what is believed to be the nation’s first hydrogen powered automobile, a Model A Ford. Today, at the ripe age of 28, Roger E. Billings could be named the Father of Hydrogen Technology.
As a new college graduate, Roger had the rare opportunity to be mentored by one of America’s great inventors / industrialists – Bill Lear. In an informal, at-your-elbow setting, Billings gained invaluable insight and experience in taking products from conceptualization to commercialization – tools that would empower his future ventures in pioneering cutting-edge technologies. Billings’ […]
The BYU Harold B. Lee Library Digital Collections features a May 18, 1972 photograph of Roger Billings and his team working on a hydrogen car. The library provides a high resolution zooming capability to get an up close look at this moment.
