As the UK finally begins to take its climate change commitments seriously, maybe its time to invest in new renewable technology instead of wind turbines. If they were affordable enough to become popular, hydro cars could make a significant contribution to the target of 15% of all our energy being from renewable sources by 2012. We are a nation of car drivers and to address the waste of energy is the way forward.

Hydrogen fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, heat and water. It converts the energy produced by a chemical reaction into electricity. What is revolutionary is the lack of waste involved in fuel cells, producing only water as a by-product of the chemical processes.

NASA has been using liquid hydrogen to propel space shuttles and rockets into orbit for decades. Hydrogen fuel cells power the electrical systems, producing a clean by-product - pure water which is drank by the crew.

Toyota and Honda have both developed hydrogen-fuelled vehicles, which are being leased to customers in California and Japan. The drawback is that these hydro-cars are currently costing $1 million US dollars each to produce because of the complicated and expensive nature of fuel cells.

The aspiration is to reduce the cost in order to compete with gasoline engines. Toyota hopes to reduce the cost to around $50,000 per vehicle by 2015, which would make such cars economically viable in the marketplace. It will be a lengthy transition as few people are likely to be prepared to give up their cars for benefits which may take years to arrive.

Many companies are working on techniques to reduce the cost of producing fuel cells, in a variety of ways including reducing the amount of platinum needed in each individual cell. The development of fuel cells relies on whether governments and other institutions can invest heavily enough in this burgeoning technology to bring the costs down.

The EU has just announced a massive investment in fuel cell research. They are promising a 940 million-euro investment to help kick-start the commercial takeoff of hydrogen powered cars between 2010 and 2020.

So wind farms and nuclear power might be the current favoured saviour, but perhaps we should consider more seriously the possibility of using fuel cells instead. If the price can be brought down, hydro cars could catch on and help us help the environment. As water is the only by-product, imagine urban areas free from thick exhaust fumes!