"The partnership between GM and the DoD is key in bringing this technolgy to the forefront," said J. Byron McCormick, executive director of fuel cell activities for General Motors Corp. Thursday at the U.S. Energy Forum in Arlington, Va.

Energy security and environmental concerns are driving policy change and the search for a solution to clean, domestically produced transportation fuel.

According to McCormick, GM spends more than all the governments in the world combined on hydrogen fuel cell research and is preparing to release vehicles in the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea.

Flex-fuel and hybrid vehicles that use E85 or plug-in technology are already on the roads. In September, the U.S. Army became the first customer of GM's latest fuel-cell technology in the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell vehicle fleet. The U.S. Postal Service also uses GM's alternative fuel vehicles within its fleet.

While the leadtime will be long and the capital cost high to implement and roll out the infrastructure for hydrogen cars, McCormick said he was confident the technology is getting there and a "clear national energy strategy" would put the necessary confidence in the market.