Don Paul, chief technology officer at ChevronTexaco, said the drive to establish hydrogen as a pollution-free fuel has moved past its early research, development and vision stages.

Now, public-private partnerships need to set up fueling stations, fleets of fuel-cell vehicles and other projects to bring hydrogen power into the mainstream, he said.

"We need to keep our optimism, but we need to add pragmatism," Paul told attendees at the conference, being held at a hotel here. "We need to make this work."

The second day of the weeklong conference, organized by the National Hydrogen Association trade group, buzzed with discussion on ways to meet Paul's challenge -- and ways in which it is already being met.

Hydrogen is still considered at least a decade away from reaching the mainstream as a transportation fuel.

Timothy Vail, a General Motors official working on fuel cell commercialization, said the company expects to roll out hydrogen- powered fuel cell cars in the early years of the next decade.

GM is publicizing its futuristic Hy-Wire design for those cars. Other auto makers, such as Honda and Toyota, are bringing prototype hydrogen cars on public tours and displaying them to visitors at the California Fuel Cell Partnership, a group that promotes hydrogen as an energy solution.

Brian Williams, deputy mayor of environment, transportation and infrastructure for Los Angeles, said city officials routinely drive a Honda FCX fuel-cell car, which draws interest from residents. The state's Hydrogen Highway initiative, which will create a network of publicly accessible hydrogen stations across California by 2010, drew praise from speakers as a step to raise hydrogen's public profile.

So did a series of grants announced Tuesday by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to encourage development of hydrogen cars and supporting fuel structure.

Air Products and Chemicals of Trexlertown, the country's largest producer of hydrogen, won a grant as the lead company in a partnership with BMW, Honda, Toyota and other companies. Among other things, the grant will help pay for the creation of up to 24 hydrogen fuel stations, including some at existing gas stations.

That said, the average Lehigh Valley driver may not pass a hydrogen station any time soon: Many projects remain based in California, an early hub for fuel-cell activity. Also, hydrogen test projects are still too pricey for some real-world buyers.

Alan Lloyd, chairman of the California Air Resources Board, said the use of hydrogen-powered buses in his state has been slowed by the cost -- about $3 million per bus.

"That's been a disappointment for us," he said. "That cost has to come down."

Still, Lloyd said he's convinced hydrogen is the right path to follow.

"There are major corporations investing real money," he said. "Is this hype? I think not."

Air Products is one of more than a dozen co-sponsors of the national conference, called "Hydrogen: A Clean Energy Choice." The event is expected to draw almost 1,000 people, according to organizers.

Monday's first day of the conference featured seminars on fuel purity and training workers for fuel-cell careers, as well as a financing forum that brought together investors and hydrogen- related companies.