But the $1 million sticker price is likely too tall an order for most residents of the Tampa Bay area, or anywhere else, energy experts say.
So, despite a couple of hydrogen filling stations built in Orlando and 20 hydrogen demonstration cars navigating Florida's roads, experts say consumers should control their excitement for now.
The technology -- which can power automobiles and electronic devices such as laptops, be used in cooling and heating systems, and generate power -- is a decade to a couple of generations away from the commercial market.
"It's not really ready for prime time," said Ali T-Raissi, director of the hydrogen research and development division of the Florida Solar Energy Center at the Cocoa campus of the University of Central Florida.
Hydrogen, the lightest and most abundant known element in the universe, has minimal environmental effects, making it the preferred fuel to replace fossil fuels.
However, unlike oil, natural gas and coal, hydrogen is not an energy source. It's an energy carrier that reacts with the thermal characteristics of other elements, such as oxygen, to produce power.
The challenges for hydrogen technology are many, including that it is expensive to produce from natural gas, water or other substances; it can't be stored efficiently like gasoline; and the infrastructure to produce and distribute hydrogen doesn't exist.
"There are many challenges," T-Raissi said. "But that doesn't mean hydrogen isn't the way to go. To me, hydrogen is the future."
T-Raissi, a mechanical engineer who has studied hydrogen technology for 20 years, and other experts agree that the time to act is now.
Global energy demand is increasing rapidly as energy use in the United States continues to climb and the growing economies in China and India require more energy. The competition for traditional energy sources will continue to drive up the price of oil, natural gas and coal.
Depending on whom you ask, the world's supply of oil will last 40 to 100 more years. That raises the specter of whether the United States will be able to secure enough energy to maintain economic growth.
In addition, continuing to burn carbon-based fuels for energy will negatively affect the environment, experts say.
"The problem isn't going to be in 50 years," said Elias Stefanakos, director of the Clean Energy Research Center at the University of South Florida. "The problem is today.
"Right now, the demand is so much higher than the supply, so the prices are high. Then, the next thing is what are we doing to the environment?"
Florida is the fourth-most-populated state in the nation but consumes the third-most energy, according to the energy center in Cocoa. About 30 percent of the state's energy is used in the 13 million vehicles on Florida's roads, the most per capita than any other state, according to an article on the center's Web site.
With the state growing at 980 people per day and accommodating 80 million visitors a year, Florida's electrical needs are expected to increase almost 60 percent by 2020, according to the governor's office.
Florida wants to be at the forefront of hydrogen research, and it will be prominently featured in a new energy plan Gov. Jeb Bush wants by Jan. 17, said Allan F. Bedwell, deputy secretary for regulatory programs and energy at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Over two years, the state has doled out $12.6 million to companies and universities to demonstrate the use of hydrogen technology. Bush also has launched H2 Florida, a program to promote the use of hydrogen.
The state has sponsored about 28 demonstration projects, he said.
"The great promise of hydrogen is it can actually be a source of energy ... that doesn't emit any air pollution at all," Bedwell said. "That has great promise for allowing for economic growth in the state and at the same time keeping our air clean."
State officials say demonstration projects help companies such as Ford and General Motors usher low-emission, high-mileage vehicles into reality faster, and they help educate consumers.
However, researchers in Florida say more money and researchers are needed to help fast-forward hydrogen technology to the marketplace. They want more money to go to research and less to demonstration projects.
T-Raissi said the government has spent about $40 million on about 20 hydrogen vehicles. That's an average cost of $2 million a vehicle, he said. (However, experts say the vehicles should cost about $1 million apiece.)
"Why demonstrate something that isn't
ready yet?" he asked. "That kind of money buys a lot of research at
universities."