Transportation is where the majority of innovation has leaned toward, mostly because of the imminent need to replace oil as an energy source for vehicles. It is difficult to say when, if ever, this will be a major market due to the government regulations on hydrogen containment as well as the lack of product. Currently the only fuel cell in mass production is the Zinc-air battery, which uses an "aqueous alkaline solution" as its electrolyte. This is not a hydrogen cell, but is a step forward for the development of fuel cells as a means of energy storage and delivery. As for hydrogen specific fuel cells there are many in research and even a few in use by certain vehicles by government agencies. The first hydrogen fueling station for hydrogen powered vehicles was opened in Iceland in 2003. Its purpose is to fill three buses built by DaimlerChrystler for public transportation.
Many companies have announced commercial vehicles for consumer purchase in the near future. Honda, after figuring a method of reducing the bulky size of the hydrogen fuel cell, has announced a fuel cell power vehicle for Japanese and U.S. markets in 2008. The new fuel cell is a major step forward in this field, making it a more efficient model than previous ventures of theirs. The newer one holds even more power and is only sixty-seven kilos, compared to their previous 96 kilo model. It is the same technology that Honda is harnessing which is being worked on for other forms of transportation, such as boating. A team of college students called "Energy Quest" are currently working on taking a hydrogen powered boat around the world.
The hopeful use of a fuel cell as a residential fuel source is a possible plan, but unlikely to occur in the viewable future. The high price (as mentioned earlier) is overwhelming and many estimates hold it as being more than ten years away. IdaTech, a company which creates hydrogen fuel cells, just took a huge step forward in the sale of commercial fuel cells. The company is an authority on the commercial and personal possibilities of fuel cells and just made a deal to produce and sell the cells for data backup on telecommunications technologies. It is in their recent statement that they stated that past estimates on residential fuel cell use was far off, and that there is still quite a lot of time needed for development.