Such moves could ease global warming and solve the world's developing energy crisis in one fell swoop.

And the scientist leading the research work here in Wales says we are uniquely placed to benefit from being one of the world's leading players in the new technology designed to increase our use of hydrogen.

Prof Dennis Hawkes of the University of Glamorgan in Pontypridd says the main qualities of hydrogen - one of nature's basic building blocks - is its availability and versatility.

"One of the advantages of hydrogen is that there are lots of different methods of extracting it, and it can be produced anywhere in the world. We would never be limited to one particular location for its production, which is a big plus.

"Ideally it would come from all sorts of renewable sources. It can be produced from water through electrolysis, using electricity generated from renewable means.

"It can also be produced directly by bacteria, which produce hydrogen as they break down products. We're working on biological fuel cells, which convert biomass into electricity by using bacteria. We've just got a big grant to do further research on that."

With this "big grant" from the National Assembly - supplemented by European Objective One financial assistance - Wales looks to have its own renewable enerrgy programme in place before the end of the decade.

The bacteria-powered fuel cell was actually invented in Wales in 1839 by Swansea's Sir William Grove, although it was a technology largely undeveloped until the last 10 years. Now it looks as if we could once again be about to drag other countries along in our pioneering wake.

"Wales is well known as a centre for hydrogen research - one of my colleagues is in China right now for a conference, so we're certainly right up there," beams Hawkes proudly..

"We in Wales could use hydrogen as our own energy source if we produced it here, and we've got lots of renewable energy sources available to us. Then of course it's a way of producing energy when it gets scarce, which everybody knows is a likely scenario in the future."

His unit's comprehensive report Hydrogen and Wales maps out how this country could lead the way. And an earlier document, A Vision of the Hydrogen Economy in Wales, points out that Wales already has a hydrogen industry and expertise in its utilisation through supplying hydrogen for metals processing, petrol refining, chemicals manufacturing, the pharmaceuticals industry and glass production.

It adds if we build a head start on other countries, rural Wales could flourish as a producer of energy crops for biomass, from which hydrogen could be produced.

Peter Ogden, director of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales, admits the group is excited by hydrogen's potential. Its concern is in trying to find a clean technology which doesn't impinge on the landscape, he says.

"We would anticipate, although it is a bit of an unknown quantity, that it wouldn't have as significant an implication on the landscape as the traditional renewable energy options such as wind turbines that we're looking at at the moment."

Jeremy Rifkind, author of "The Hydrogen Economy: The Creation of the World Wide Energy Web and the Redistribution of Power on Earth", says that we are facing a sea-change in the way we produce energy.

"Scientists call (hydrogen) the 'forever fuel' because it never runs out. And when hydrogen is used to produce power, the only by-products are pure water and heat. Hydrogen has the potential to end the world's reliance on oil.

"It will dramatically cut down on carbon dioxide emissions and mitigate the effects of global warming."

Oil giant BP is presently researching plans that could extract hydrogen to fuel power stations from North Sea gas, cutting down carbon dioxide emissions by 90%. The downside to the project is that natural gas sources are finite, and once again likely to depend on exporters such as Russia in the not-too-distant future.

Rifkind says the problem with more traditional renewable sources of energy is they can't be relied upon 100%, but when abundant they could be harnessed to produce hydrogen that could be stored.

"Renewable energy is intermittent.

The sun isn't always shining, the wind isn't always blowing, and water isn't always flowing when there's a drought. When renewable energy isn't available, electricity can't be generated and economic activity grinds to a halt."

Jeremy Rifkind says he can see the beginning of the end for the all-powerful oil cartels and their indiscriminate grasp on power.

"The harnessing of hydrogen will alter our way of life as fundamentally as the introduction of coal and steam power in the 19th century and the shift to oil and the internal combustion engine in the 20th century.

"Making the transition to a hydrogen economy represents the single most important challenge and greatest opportunity of the 21st century."