Abraham urged members of the National Hydrogen Association to help develop and support educational programs for students and teachers, especially at middle and high schools.

Abraham and other hydrogen leaders believe teachers need a solid grounding
in the science of the future fuel if they hope to inspire students who may one
day drive -- and design -- hydrogen-powered fuel-cell cars.

"This is something I hope this organization will work with us on," he said, at
the association's annual conference here. "It's something we need a broad
base of the industry to support."

Abraham's speech topped the news at the third day of the conference, which
is expected to draw about 1,000 people, up from 630 last year. Many of those
people packed a ballroom at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel to hear the
speech.

Abraham also caused the biggest buzz at the conference on Tuesday, despite
being 2,000 miles away in Detroit. He announced $350 million in grants that
will help pay for projects to bring fuel cells into real-world tests. Air
Products and Chemicals of Trexlertown, the country's largest hydrogen
producer, is the lead company for one of the five grant-winning teams.

About $4.5 million of the money will go toward middle- and high-school education programs, Abraham said Wednesday. That money will be matched by other sources.

"Hopefully, we can excite the young math, engineering and science students
of the country," he said.

Abraham also presented an award to a student team from the University of
Victoria, British Columbia, that won a college design contest for a hydrogen
fueling station.

Michael Davis, the association's newly elected chairman, said he agreed with
Abraham's comments.

"I think the point was made that a lot of people have never known anything
different" in terms of energy sources, said Davis, who is also chief executive
officer of ReliOn, a fuel cell company in Washington state. 

Abraham also reviewed the Bush administration's activities in the 15 months
since President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address established hydrogen
as a priority. Those include meetings with other nations to set up open
exchanges of hydrogen information, and education workshops aimed at local
officials and policy makers.

Beyond the keynote speeches, association members also attended a series of
technical workshops focused on storage, infrastructure and other major
challenges to the anticipated hydrogen economy.

Venki Raman, Air Products' top hydrogen-economy researcher, led a group
Tuesday afternoon focusing on the challenges of siting fuel stations. Those
challenges include flammability and explosion risks, as well as making the
stations as convenient as possible for early users.

Raman said the specialized tone of his session reflected a general trend at
the conference, which is moving away from theoretical talks and toward
real-world problems as hydrogen fuel cells move further into prototype
testing.

"We're getting into these real practical issues," he said. "That's real progress
for us."