The buzz right now is centered on all-electric cars and the latest hybrids. But down the road, the hope is that the hydrogen economy will arrive. Those fuel cell powered vehicles would have no pollution with the only emission being distilled water.

Right now the car companies in conjunction with the major oil conglomerates are working to make the hydrogen economy real. But it is difficult to store hydrogen, which is the chief obstacle when it commercializing the concept.

Hydrogen does not stand alone in nature and must therefore be separated from oxygen -- but to break it out requires energy produced by other fuels. If fossil fuels are used, the process then consumes more energy than is produced, and the end result is likely more pollution. If renewable or nuclear sources are used, the procedure is far more benign. But questions arise about whether it is more efficient to make hydrogen or just produce electric energy directly.

A lot of smart people are working on hydrogen-powered vehicles. Their goal is to ensure such those cars and trucks could run 300 miles before they would need to re-juice.

Filling cars and sport utility vehicles with the equivalent of one gallon of gasoline takes about 14,500 gallons of uncompressed hydrogen, says Sandia National Laboratories. While the production of hydrogen is inefficient, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory says it has nearly three times the energy content of gasoline, which more than compensates for the efficiency losses.

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