For 150 years, scientists have been experimenting with fuel cells, while consumers saw few practical uses.

But researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory think all that will change within the next decade.

The Richland laboratory and the National Energy Technology Laboratory are managing a national alliance with the goal of having practical, affordable fuel cells on the market within 10 years.

Congress is expected to spend up to $350 million in that time, coupled with industry money, on the Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance, a coalition of government agencies, commercial developers, universities and national laboratories.

Since amateur physicist Sir William Grove constructed the first fuel cell in 1839, several types have been developed based on the concept of using a chemical reaction to produce electricity.

"It's more or less like a battery," said Subhash Singhal, fuel cells director for the Energy Science and Technology Division of the Richland lab.

"In batteries, the amount of energy is limited by the amount of chemical in the battery. A fuel cell is a continuous battery, because it keeps supplying fuel all the time."

Most versions of fuel cells use pure hydrogen. But the United States lacks an infrastructure for widespread production of hydrogen for fuel cells.

Instead, the Richland program is focusing on solid oxide fuel cells -- a type that converts widely available natural gas to hydrogen and carbon monoxide within the fuel cell.

However, solid oxide fuel cells have other challenges -- like high temperatures.

"That can be a problem or it can be an advantage," Singhal said.

It can be useful for heating a home or producing more electricity in a generator. But it also requires expensive materials to withstand the heat, and it causes wear and tear on the cell.

"The emphasis at the lab is to lower the operating temperature ... so we can utilize cheaper materials to construct them," Singhal said. "The main issue of any fuel cell is cost. It needs to be brought down to current technologies."

If the lab can get temperatures down to around 1,400 degrees, cheaper materials such as stainless steel could be used in the cells. At higher temperatures, more expensive nickel-based alloys are required.

Researchers are experimenting both with new heat resistant materials that are less expensive and new, cooler designs.

The Richland lab brings a history of materials research to the project, but work also is progressing to design the complete systems.

The alliance is focusing on producing about 5-kilowatt fuel cells that can be stacked together in minipower plants to produce more electricity.

A stack of three fuel cells could be smaller than a deck of playing cards. Eventually, stacks of fuel cells about the size of a dishwasher could provide the electricity for households.

The first use of fuel cells developed by the alliance may be for auxiliary power systems in vehicles by 2005. For instance, cells might power a fax machine or other accessories in a luxury automobile or run the air conditioner overnight in a semi-truck's cab while the trucker sleeps, allowing the motor to be turned off.

But for such uses to be practical, researchers need to design models that are less expensive and smaller than existing units produced elsewhere, which would fill the trunk of a car. The lab also is using computer models to come up with designs that can be started more quickly.

The alliance sees other uses for the fuel cells within the next decade, particularly for the military.

Internal combustion engines have a fuel efficiency of 17 to 20 percent. With fuel cheap, that inefficiency isn't a problem.

But the military is interested in more efficient systems even if they are more costly because less fuel would need to be hauled to battle zones. Fuel cells are about three times as efficient as an internal combustion engine.

Initially, the military could use them to power equipment carried by soldiers, such as global positioning systems. But eventually they could be used to power ships and submarines.

The Richland laboratory has about 25 people working on the fuel cells project now, but that could double within the next few years, Singhal said.