Fifteen of his students have been building and testing 8-inch model cars powered by fuel cells, which Nicolai said will be the alternative to gasoline in the next 20 years.

"Fuel cells are the technology of the future," he said. "Schools seldom deal with the technology of the future."

The class received 15 grants of $120 each from the Jackson County Intermediate School District for building and testing the cars.

Fuel cells are similar to batteries, only they don't die out because they use hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity.

The electric current causes the car's wheels to spin. The hydrogen and oxygen eventually mix, and the waste that comes out the exhaust pipe is water vapor.

"The process is incredibly simple," Nicolai said.

Students also tested the model cars outdoors using solar power. The sun that hit the cars' solar panels powered the motors and caused the wheels to turn.

Nicolai said the model cars worked better with solar energy and were used only for demonstration purposes.

Senior Lindsay Miller said the project helped the class understand the technology they'll be dealing with someday.

"Some people don't know how regular cars work," Miller said. "Now we know how these cars work for the future."

Junior Sami Agha said using fuel cells to power cars was not complicated to comprehend.

"It's almost infinite in a sense," he said. "We need to harness the energy around us."

Still, Nicolai said real fuel-cell cars would not be affordable for some time.

Hydrogen tanks are not as assessable to drivers as are gasoline pumps, and it costs about $5 to $6 per gallon to pump liquid or gaseous hydrogen.

"Until gas gets to $5 to $6 (per gallon), it won't be economically feasible," Nicolai said. "There are a lot of good ideas, but we're not ready for them."