Work to develop fuel cell vehicles is making "striking progress," says an official of a Japanese automaker.

Automobiles are responsible for some 18 pct of CO2 emissions worldwide while it is feared that the oil supplies could dry up as early as this century.

World automakers are thus hoping to start mass production of fuel cell vehicles in 2015-2020. Fuel cells generate electricity through the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen.

In Japan, a fuel cell vehicle experiment project began in fiscal 2002 with the participation by a total of 23 firms, including automakers. A total of 12 hydrogen supply stations were set up in Tokyo and other areas, including Kanagawa Prefecture, for test runs of some 60 vehicles on public roads, according to the Japan Automobile Research Institute.

The project has so far proved that fuel cell vehicles are about 20 pct more fuel-efficient than gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles and that their CO2 emissions, including emissions during the fuel-making process, are less than half those of gasoline-powered automobiles.

They have also proved comparable with gasoline vehicles in terms of acceleration and other performance-related features.

But there are still many hurdles that must be cleared before the launch of mass production of fuel cell vehicles.

For example, the distance that can be traveled by a fuel cell vehicle on a single fuel charge is about half that of a gasoline vehicle while huge development and production costs are another source of headache.

In the United States, the Department of Energy has started a joint project with the U.S. Big Three automakers and others with the aim of bringing the number of fuel cell vehicles on public roads in the country to between two million and 10 million units by 2020.

The project envisages setting up massive hydrogen station networks in densely populated Los Angeles and New York ahead of other U.S. cities, says an official at the department.

Under a European project, meanwhile, fuel cell buses, developed on the basis of ordinary buses, have been used on a commercial basis. According to a German official, the project has helped improve fuel cell vehicle technologies and increased people's awareness of the need to tackle global warming.

At the same time, the project revealed various problems. For example, more than 30 minutes are necessary to fill a bus with hydrogen.

Still, the German official says the project has proved that hydrogen can replace oil as an alternative energy source.

Among Japanese automakers, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. leased their first commercially made fuel cell vehicles to the government in 2002. Nissan Motor Co. supplied a fuel cell vehicle to a taxi operator in Kanagawa Prefecture on a lease basis last month.

U.S. auto giant General Motors Corp. is aiming to launch fuel cell vehicles by 2010.

Some analysts say that a fresh round of realignment moves may occur in the global automobile industry as makers are strengthening efforts to develop commercially viable fuel cell vehicles.