“Since President Bush first laid out his vision for a hydrogen economy, we’ve witnessed incredible innovation and tremendous advancement,” said secretary of energy Samuel Bodman.

“We hope that through our ingenuity, investment and effort, hydrogen vehicles will some day be as commonplace as the cars we drive today.”

Seventy projects will be covered under the funding, including more than 50 separate research bodies in 25 states that include academic institutions, national think-tanks and commercial industry labs.

The funding will be distributed over three years and will address the five technical focus areas identified by the DOE’s 2003 workshop “Basic Research Needs for the Hydrogen Economy”: