Researchers from Georgetown University were in Naperville on Monday to show how a 40-foot transit bus powered with a fuel cell and batteries is quieter, cleaner and more efficient than its diesel-fueled counterpart.

And with researchers working to create smaller, stronger and less expensive fuel cells, it’s just a matter of time before the devices that convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity are powering our minivans and SUVs.

“People are crying loud for some technology to come into the market that’s going to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” said Promod Vohra, dean of Northern Illinois University’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology.

NIU hosted the visit by the prototype bus at its Naperville campus to highlight the fuel cell research it’s doing with Argonne National Laboratory.

The hope is to develop fuel cells for mass-produced cars and trucks within a decade, Vohra said.

“We know this technology works,” Vohra said. “But nobody is going to buy a $1 million car. If this becomes a car that is affordable, people would buy it.”

Argonne and NIU already have received nearly $1 million in federal funding to support their work with fuel cells.

U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, who took a short ride on the fuel cell-powered bus, said recent gas prices serve as a wakeup call that the nation must invest in alternative energy sources.

“We have to stop thinking oil and gas,” the Hinsdale Republican said. “We need a fuel that not only replaces fossil fuels, but that is safe, clean and doesn’t pollute the environment.”

Biggert has introduced legislation that would support alternative sources of power, including biofuels, solar, wind, nuclear and clean coal. That bill could be considered by the full House as soon as this week.

However, critics say such actions don't make up for the years Republicans have hampered Democratic efforts to make substantive progress on clean energy alternatives.

“We should have the greenest economy on earth,” said Joseph Shannon, Biggert’s Democratic opponent in the November election. “They have done nothing.”

Shannon agrees more should be done to wean the nation from its dependence on foreign oil. He suggested offering tax incentives to companies that develop alternative energy.

Meanwhile, Georgetown University’s fuel cell-powered bus is one of the most promising alternative energy technologies in development, Vohra said. The Washington, D.C., university has built five prototypes since the mid-1980s.

The one displayed Monday looked just like any other transit bus. However, it had a 4,000-pound fuel cell where a diesel engine normally would be. Batteries also help move the bus, run the air conditioning and power the lights.

Oxygen the fuel cell needs comes from the air. And the hydrogen is created from methanol, an alcohol similar to ethanol.

A 150-gallon tank of methanol, which costs about same as gas, is enough to take the bus 350 miles, said Donald Mase, technical director of Georgetown’s fuel cell bus program.

And it’s a cleaner ride. “We can’t claim zero emissions,” he said, “but it’s pretty close.”