An early glimpse of the 21st century automobile came not from Henry Ford or a formula one pit lane, but from the pen of Jules Verne. "The energy of tomorrow is water broken down into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity," he wrote in The Mysterious Island in 1874. "These elements will secure the earth's power supply for an indefinite period."
After more than a century of the internal combustion engine, car manufacturers are now ploughing billions into developing alternative fuel technologies to reduce depen dence on finite oil supplies. The most promising contenders borrow from Verne's vision, using hydrogen fuel cells - a technology discovered in 1839 - to turn the wheels and leave nothing but water vapour in their wake.
The need to rethink the car is long overdue. America's 210m vehicles spew almost 1.5bn tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every year and, according to a US environmental protection agency report, the latest models average little more than 20 miles to the gallon - the worst showing since 1980. Even George Bush, diehard Texan oilman, acknowledges that identifying workable alternative fuel sources has become imperative.
Now, with everybody from American "sports utility vehicle" nuts to Mexico City cab drivers likely to be bowling along in eco-friendly vehicles by 2010, a bewildering array of technologies is emerging, each claiming to revolutionise the automobile.
After more than a century of the internal combustion engine, car manufacturers are now ploughing billions into developing alternative fuel technologies to reduce depen dence on finite oil supplies. The most promising contenders borrow from Verne's vision, using hydrogen fuel cells - a technology discovered in 1839 - to turn the wheels and leave nothing but water vapour in their wake.
The need to rethink the car is long overdue. America's 210m vehicles spew almost 1.5bn tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every year and, according to a US environmental protection agency report, the latest models average little more than 20 miles to the gallon - the worst showing since 1980. Even George Bush, diehard Texan oilman, acknowledges that identifying workable alternative fuel sources has become imperative.
Now, with everybody from American "sports utility vehicle" nuts to Mexico City cab drivers likely to be bowling along in eco-friendly vehicles by 2010, a bewildering array of technologies is emerging, each claiming to revolutionise the automobile.
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