The Japanese industry ministry has announced plans to use public money to fund research into extending the lifespan of fuel cells.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry proposes to provide billions of yen in subsidies to the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), an independent administrative agency, from fiscal 2005, according to the Asahi Shimbun.

Fuel cell technology is hailed by many as the energy source of the future and NEDO will channel the funds into a consortium of seven companies set up specifically to look into ways of prolonging the durability of fuel cells.

The consortium, which includes Osaka Gas, Tokyo Gas and Matsushita Electric Industrial, will conduct joint research into the membrane's deterioration mechanism.

Japan's trade ministry has set a target of 2.1 million kilowatts of fuel cell power for household and corporate use by 2010; equivalent to the energy generated by two nuclear power plants. The ministry plans to add 5.4 billion yen in public subsidies to NEDO's budget in 2005, in the hope of producing ten million kilowatts of fuel cell power by 2020.

Fuel cells produce electricity by converting hydrogen and oxygen into water through a proton exchange membrane and the current lifespan of a membrane is currently about 13,000 hours, or roughly two to three years of standard use.

Experts suggest that, for the technology to achieve household penetration, the lifespan of the membrane must be increased to at least 40,000 hours, or more than five years.