A research team from a small American university is currently developing a way to store clean hydrogen gas in ultra thin glass containers for use in hydrogen-powered vehicles.

The team, from Alfred University in Alfred, New York is carrying out the research thanks to a $2 million Energy Department grant under President Bush's $1.2 billion FreedomCar programme initiative aimed at developing cars that operate on hydrogen-powered fuel cells.

Known as microshperes, the miniature glass spheres are much safer than conventional metal tanks currently in use, and far cheaper, according to project leader and professor of ceramic engineering at Alfred University, Jim Shelby.

Despite Prof. Shelby's confidence that the method will prove to be cheaper, more reliable and safer than the other technologies currently in use or development, he conceded that institutions such as his are at a disadvantage against the highly subsidised national laboratories.

"In many ways, the key obstacles are not in the technology but in the politics of hydrogen," said Prof. Shelby. "The large national labs exploring more conventional storage devices have tens of millions of dollars of support each year."

The technology could offer a crucial fillip for the development of a suitable fuel cell vehicle infrastructure and consequently the platinum industry - Proton Exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells produce electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen over a platinum catalyst.