HONEOYE FALLS - This quiet village 60 miles east of Buffalo is working on the solution to high gas prices and U.S. reliance on foreign oil.

At the end of a shady street here is General Motors' lab for fuel cells, a technology in which it is a global leader. In the site's two low-slung buildings, some 300 engineers and technicians make an engine that runs on hydrogen instead of gasoline - without noise, pollution or greenhouse gasses.

The fuel cell, a chemical reactor that generates electricity, is still regarded as a futuristic technology. Unlike gas-electric hybrid vehicles, it represents a top-to-bottom change in vehicle technology. It won't be available in many cars until 2020, the Energy Department predicts.

But the fuel cell that GM has developed here in Monroe County is further along than you might think. The technology is on track to be road-worthy in five years, engineers say.

"We can say the first hurdle has been met . . . you can drive cars with them," says Matthew Fronk, GM's chief engineer for fuel cell systems. "The last step is how do we drive down costs . . . that's what we're focusing on now."

What's lacking are large-scale fuel sources for hydrogen and the filling stations to distribute it. But spiking gasoline prices make the alternatives look more practical.

"When gas was a buck and a quarter, it was "Yeah, fuel cells are prety neat,' " Fronk said. "When fuel starts to be $3 a gallon, there starts to be a pull from the public: "Is there something different that can be better?' "

Fronk's team has made about 25 working fuel cells that power prototype vehicles, six of which are tooling around Washington, D.C., to demonstrate to policy makers. Another, a converted Opel Zafira minivan, Fronk has driven at 100 mph on a German test track. "They can be designed to be very snappy," he says.

Another working fuel cell vehicle was unveiled here by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in April, a pick-up truck for use at the Army's base in Ft. Belvoir, Va. Fronk expects more such technology demonstration projects to roll out as his group refines cost and performance. Though still too heavy and expensive to be commercially viable, "I can see a path to that," Fronk says.

The location of GM's fuel cell lab in Western New York stems from the automaker's long history of electrical research and development in the Rochester area. The lab in Honeoye Falls opened in 1999, relocating the fuel cell development group from a smaller site near Rochester, the company says. Delphi Corp., GM's former parts arm, also maintains a fuel cell research center in the area, but for a different technology that provides auxiliary power.

The Buffalo area also has a stake in future auto technology. A state-funded demonstration project will have two hydrogen-burning cars in use in 2006, with a fueling station at the University at Buffalo's north campus in Amherst. The demonstration project, backed by the state Energy Research and Development Authority, aims to boost hydrogen fueling technology.

The project envisions converted Toyota Prius cars with modified gasoline engines burning hydrogen, a less efficient technology than fuel cells, but one that's seen as an interim step.

"I'm very excited at what the folks at Honeoye Falls are doing," said Willard E. "Skip" Hauth, vice president of American Wind Power & Hydrogen LLC on Grand Island, the state's contractor on the Buffalo hydrogen demonstration project. "When they get going, they're going to need (fueling stations.)"

In addition, the industrial gas company Praxair designs hydrogen fueling stations at its site in the Town of Tonawanda. And hydrogen itself is produced cheaply as a byproduct of chemical plants in Niagara Falls, which use hydroelectric power to split hydrogen from water.

With all this hydrogen technology around, would it make sense to mass-produce fuel cells in Western New York someday?

"To be determined," Fronk says. "Don't scratch anything off the list."

Even among big automakers, GM's fuel cell development site in Monroe County is a rarity. Ford and DaimlerChrysler both hired an outside company, Ballard Power Systems, to develop fuel cells for their prototypes.

With its own fuel cell, and a goal of 2010 to have it ready for mass production, GM is pushing the technology harder than most automakers. Too hard, critics say. To them, the automaker's strategy amounts to a long-shot bet, at the expense of shorter-term fixes like smaller conventional cars and hybrid gas-electric vehicles.

"Fuel cells are a fine holy grail," said Rich Kassel, leader of the clean fuels project at the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York City. "But between now and then, there's a lot that auto companies could do increase fuel efficiency, and they should do it."

The environmental group criticizes the industry and the Bush administration for what it calls weak fuel economy standards. Bush proclaimed a $1.2 billion hydrogen fuel development initiative in 2003, what critics call a ploy to draw attention from today's gas-guzzling technology.

A fuel cell car by itself doesn't solve fossil fuel problems. Much hydrogen today comes from natural gas, in a process that emits the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. To make future cars truly pollution free, hydrogen producers will have to invest in clean electric-generating capacity to split hydrogen from water.

However, rising prices for gasoline bring hydrogen closer to economic practicality. The Energy Department recently raised its target price for hydrogen to be a viable motor fuel, from $1.50 per gallon-equivalent of gasoline to $2-$3, reflecting expectations of continued upward pressure on gas prices. Price parity remains far off - a kilogram of hydrogen, about the energy equivalent of a gallon of gas, costs $8 to $10 in most areas where its sold for industrial use. But like hydrogen fueled cars, hydrogen itself is expected to come down in price with advances in large-scale production.

"There's all different options to make hydrogen - nuclear, hydro, wind and solar, as well as reforming natural gas," Fronk said. "Almost any community can make it, based on what their natural resources are."

Fuel costs and environmental politics aren't the concern of his fuel cell lab. The engineers here build the guts of the chemical reactor that generates power, along with its computerized control system. Other GM sites in Michigan, California and Germany are working on hydrogen fuel tanks and electric motors. When the country is ready for a pollution free, gasoline-less vehicle, the GM engineers say they'll have one - or perhaps sooner than that.

"I'd say hydrogen storage (and) infrastructure is a little behind fuel cell technology," Fronk said. "Maybe two years ago fuel cells were behind, but we've made good progress."

A glass display case in front of Fronk's office shows off the progress. It holds a copy of the fuel cell used in prototype cars today, a box the size of a suitcase that generates 73 kilowatts, or the equivalent of 98 horsepower. Beside it stand GM's earlier generation fuel cells - bulkier, lower powered, and made of heavier materials. The automaker has 152 fuel cell patents and 350 more pending, largely from work performed in Western New York.