This may seem like something that only a high school science teacher could get excited about, but their work could one day lead to a revolution in the automobile industry: the production of a cost-effective and efficient hydrogen-powered automobile.

But a great deal of work needs to be done before that becomes a reality. Hydrogen technology needs to be advanced in order to meet requirements that consumers demand from their vehicles.

"Whatever is available now only allows, at best, probably 50 to 70 miles (before you need to refuel)," said Vitalij Pecharsky, an ISU professor and Ames Laboratory senior scientist co-leading the project.

Given that hydrogen is the lightest element on earth, a pound of it takes up quite a large volume to contain.

Pecharsky is working with three other Ames Lab scientists - Marek Pruski, Victor Lin and Scott Chumbley - and several graduate students to find a material that can efficiently store hydrogen fuel. That material must have the ability to let off enough hydrogen to power a vehicle.

The U.S. Department of Energy is looking to make practical and cost-effective fuel cell vehicles widely available on the market by 2020.

In 2003, President Bush committed $1.2 billion over the course of five years to the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, a plan that invests in research, development and the demonstration of hydrogen and fuel cell technology.

The goal is to have hydrogen-powered cars introduced into the marketplace by 2010, and a full realization of the hydrogen economy sometime between 2030 and 2040.

While most scientists conventionally turn to heat as a way to release hydrogen from a material, the Ames-based scientists are taking a strong look into mechanical energy as a way to control the release and absorption of hydrogen, Pecharsky said. Preliminary research done at the Ames Laboratory has shown the use of mechanical energy to be effective at obtaining substantial amounts of hydrogen from solids, he said.

Getting the hydrogen from the material is not the most challenging part though, Pecharsky said. More of the challenge lies with getting a material that can be "recharged."

In May 2005, the Ames-based scientists were awarded a three-year, $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy as a part of the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative. The grant was a part of $64 million in federal funding that went to more than 70 research projects at universities and laboratories.

In addition to storage, the two other main thrusts that scientists across the country are working on surround the production and utilization of hydrogen.

Pruski, a senior scientist at Ames Laboratory and co-leader on the project, said he is looking forward to the project not only because of its basic scientific significance, but also because the efforts may ultimately contribute to the technologies that will cut the consumption of fossil fuels.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that we are in dire need of such technologies for environmental and economic reasons," he said.

Pecharsky said he feeds off the curiosity of the project, an interest that has driven the last 10 years of his research in hydrogen storage. While the interest is there, he tries his hardest not to get into the politics of the alternative fuel, he said.

"I try to stay away from politics," Pecharsky said. "It's just trying to make life of future generations better."

Pecharsky said he has been behind the wheel of an electricity-powered vehicle, a hybrid and a conventional gasoline-powered automobile but is eager for the day when he gets to down the pedal of a hydrogen car.

"I will be one of the first on the lot when they all show up at a dealership near me," he said. "I want what's inside."

http://fuelcellsworks.com/