The head of the government's fuel cell initiative in the US has welcomed budget proposals unveiled by President Bush, insisting they will deliver a successful fuel cell industry.

Concerns had been aired by some such as New York Republican Sherwood Boehlert, who is chairman of the House Science Committee, that the funding might hamper other forms of renewable energy.

However, representatives in the energy department, led by assistant energy secretary for energy efficiency David Garman, told the committee that the channelling of funds to fuel cells had been accompanied by funding for wind energy, hydropower, solar energy and geothermal research.

Mr Garman insisted that the fuel cell research deal was necessary to esnure development, and then moved to defend the package from some critics who argue it is not enough to deliver the backing needed to roll out the hydrogen economy.

He went on to say that the fuel cell debate was currently oscillating between those who think more research is required and those who want to push ahead with commercialisation.

'We should not be in a rush to deploy vehicles ... to force market adoption for an option that's not ready,' he explained to AP.

'(But) we don't want this to become a basic research program that in 20 to 30 years has yielded no results.'

A total of $67 million has been earmarked for specific projects in the 2004 budget for fuel cell development.

The science committee hearing and the wider subsequent debate came about after two major reports issued by the National Academy of Sciences and the American Physical Society warned that over-emphasis on the hydrogen economy could prove disastrous.