Fuel cells for the masses.

IF YOU'VE BOUGHT A car recently, your next car will be powered by a fuel cell. Or at least that's what advocates of the technology would like you to believe. But there are plenty of obstacles to work out before the streets are jammed with clean-burning cars. For one, where will these cars fill up their tanks? And how heavy will these fuel cells have to be?

It's much more likely that the next PC or motorcycle you buy will be powered by fuel cells. Japanese manufacturers are falling over each other in a mad race to be the first to offer a fuel cell-powered product. NEC, Toshiba, Casio and Hitachi are all working on fuel-cell PCs or accessories and will likely have them for sale in 2004. Yamaha Motor also announced recently that it is near completion of a motorbike powered by a fuel-cell stack; the bike will be able to scoot around town like a 50cc bike on just methanol and water. The company says it hopes to be selling the bike soon.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has even come up with a fuel-cell unit that would supply homes with cheaper hot water and electricity. It's planning to have the product completed in two years. And to be fair to the carmakers, some of them have already released prototype cars that run on fuel cells. Most of these prototypes have been leased to government agencies here and in the US for the time being.

Fuel cells create electricity by making a chemical reaction with hydrogen and oxygen. The cells emit water vapor, not carbon dioxide, and that's the big reason they're seen as the technology of the future. But don't expect the first line of fuel-cell products to be flawless. The overwhelming feeling among Japanese manufacturers is that they should get their products out fast, establish their reputation as fuel-cell pioneers and work out the kinks later.