Under its Clean Urban Transport of Europe (CUTE) project, the European Union has commissioned the building of 27 prototype silent, hydrogen-powered buses in nine of the cities signed up to the eco-friendly scheme.

Consisting of a consortium of more than 30 members in all, the CUTE project aims to reduce the levels of harmful vehicular emissions within Europe's biggest urban areas by promoting the development of a coherent zero-emission hydrogen fuel infrastructure.

Members include representatives from fuel cell development teams, the hydrogen production industry, public transport companies and city hall officials.

The implementation of the scheme, which includes provisions for the proliferation of hydrogen-filling stations in Europe's urban centres, first began in 2003.

Pilot schemes utilising hydrogen buses already exist under the CUTE project in Porto, Madrid, Stuttgart and a number of other prominent European cities, while in Iceland's Reykjavik, a similar project, under the name ECTOS, is in operation, using three hydrogen-powered buses in public transport.

Figures generated by the recent Worldwide Fuel Cell Industry Survey suggested that fuel cell-related sales accelerated by 41 per cent between 2002 and 2003, as signs emerge that the "hydrogen economy" will become a reality.