Companies, government and organizations participating in a joint effort called HyNor hope to create a "Hydrogen Highway" between the capital, Oslo, and western Norway's port of Stavanger.

By 2009, HyNor plans to have enough fueling stations along the 580 kilometer (360 mile) route to allow hydrogen cell powered vehicles to routinely make the trip.

The first clean fuel station opened at a ceremony Tuesday on the outskirts of Stavanger by Statoil ASA, the Norwegian state-controlled oil company that is branching out into alternative energy.

"Road travel contributes substantially to the emissions of climate damaging gasses," said Norwegian Environment Minister Helen Bjoernoey. "Development of hydrogen vehicles and infrastructure for them are important to ensuring more environmentally friendly transport."

The only emissions from hydrogen fuel cells are water and heat. However, the vehicles remain expensive, have short range and, in most areas, few places to refuel.

The Norwegian HyNor plan calls for five refueling stations along the main highway from Oslo to Stavanger, the center of the national petroleum industry that makes Norway the world's third largest oil exporter, after Saudi Arabia and Russia.

The aim is to extend the network through much of Scandinavia under the Scandinavian Hydrogen Highway Partnership, a joint organization formed by HyNor, Sweden's HyFuture and Denmark's Hydrogen Link in June.