United Technologies Corp. said it and the U.S. Department of Energy will shortly announce the two successfully demonstrated the world's first gasoline-powered fuel cell. The development could hasten the acceptance of the now-experimental kind of fuel cell in cars and trucks.
Fuel cells use hydrogen to produce electricity, and emit only water vapor.
Hydrogen is expensive to produce, though, and isn't widely available. A fuel cell that extracts hydrogen from gasoline would accelerate the device's spread by allowing motorists to fuel up at existing gas stations, analysts have said. Shares of the Hartford-based company fell 1.75 to 62.63 today. They've risen 1.3 percent this year. 2001 Knight Ridder Inc. and may not be republished without permission.