It's clean and invisible, and it will take our cars farther than we ever dreamed. Hydrogen could be the fuel in our grandchildren's cars, or perhaps even our own, but only if we invest now.

California is the nation's smoggiest state. Air monitoring records that more than 90 percent of Californians breathe unhealthy levels of air pollution sometime during a year, according to the California Air Resources Board. Health studies show that one in seven children ages 6-17 in the state have been diagnosed with asthma. In 2003, more than 60 percent of the state's air pollution came from mobile sources such as cars and trucks that rely on gasoline and diesel fuels. Hydrogen-powered vehicles have zero polluting emissions.

Generated by a variety of sources, some of them clean and renewable, hydrogen is not a pipe dream. While hybrid vehicles do reduce our dependence on foreign oil and clean our air, we also must invest in totally eliminating our dependence on fossil fuels and their related air emissions.

Hydrogen is the simplest and lightest element. It can be produced from molecules called hydrocarbons by applying heat. This process is currently used to make hydrogen out of compressed natural gas (CNG) and is the cheapest method of its production. CNG contains some of the hydrogen that is produced, and it also provides the energy needed to separate this hydrogen out. The rest of the hydrogen comes from steam that is added during the process. As technologies progress, renewable, nonpolluting fuel sources such as solar energy will be used, creating cleaner means of hydrogen production.

Currently, vehicles running on CNG are effective in combating harmful emissions. Some hydrogen critics question continuing to devote resources into hydrogen fuel cells while current technology is working. It's because the progress we put into hydrogen now will let us get rid of nonrenewable sources in the future. California will become a true protector of natural resources.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has set the wheels in motion, pledging to take California to "the environmental future" by way of hydrogen. The Vision 2010 outlined in his Hydrogen Highway Network Action Plan would ensure that, by 2010, every Californian would have access to hydrogen fuel along the state's highways, with an increasing percentage of that hydrogen produced from clean, renewable resources.

California's hydrogen highway would first develop refueling sites in urban areas away from major freeways to service growing populations of hydrogen-powered cars. As more hydrogen vehicles were sold, sites would be developed on the state's interstate and freeway systems. They would be approximately 25 miles apart and allow all owners of hydrogen-powered vehicles easy access to refueling facilities. Equipment at the sites would make and store hydrogen.

As the world's fifth largest economy and the nation's most populous state, California is home to almost 25 million vehicles that travel more than 800 million miles a day. A move to a clean, hydrogen transportation economy would bring jobs, investment and continued economic prosperity. The hydrogen economy is already evolving around us; auto manufacturers are investing billions in technology, and oil companies are diversifying their portfolios to include clean, renewable fuels. Other states and countries are creating policies and investing in hydrogen as well. California's ongoing commitment to this resource will blaze a trail for them to follow.

The state's well-known pioneer spirit could demonstrate to the world that our environment and economy don't have to merely co-exist, but can actually help each other thrive.

    About the writer:

        * Alan C. Lloyd, Ph.D., is secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency and former chair of the California Air Resources Board. He can be reached at calepa@calepa.ca.gov . Find out more about hydrogen at www.hydrogenhighway.ca.gov