The house has been unveiled following a two-year project by Blackheath-based Black Country Housing and Community Services Group.

It uses a hydrogen cell which combines the gas with oxygen in the atmosphere to produce electricity and heat.

The Department for Trade and Industry helped fund the environmentally friendly scheme, along with gas suppliers BOC.

It is hoped hydrogen cells could one day replace natural gas as the main source of energy in the home.

Project leader Richard Baines said: "Fuel cells are part of our energy future. They burn hydrogen to make water and electricity without any pollution. When hydrogen is eventually produced from water and not, as now, from fossil fuels, we can begin to help stop global warming.

"Lab experiments and computer predictions suggest that, of all the alternatives for combined heat and power systems, fuel cells could well be the best fit."