A new reactor developed by a team led by Yi Hua Ma, professor of chemical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), may provide the solution. 

Developed with funding from Shell International Exploration & Production and Shell Hydrogen, the reactor uses a very thin layer of palladium, a precious metal, which acts as a filter. 

The filter enables only pure hydrogen derived from natural gas or renewable sources, such as corn, to pass through. 

Shell hopes to make the reactor the heart of a hydrogen refueling network for cars within a decade or so. 

With the hydrogen fuel initiative included in the 2006 State of the Union Address and the existing FreedomCAR program, the Bush administration is proposing to spend $1.7 billion over the next five years on technology to realize the vision of mass-produced cars powered by fuel cells.