As researchers strive to find a solution to the nation's dependency on oil, Penn State researchers are preparing to test new technology that could one day replace oil as a fuel resource, officials said.

The Hybrid and Hydrogen Research Center at Penn State and the Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) combined forces this month to experiment with a blend of 30 percent hydrogen and 70 percent natural gas to fuel one of the company's buses, CATA general manger Hugh Mose said.

Mose said CATA and Penn State researchers are currently in the process of loading the hydrogen- and gas-fueled bus with sandbags to simulate the weight of passengers and testing it under real-world conditions.

"Once we are assured it is running satisfactorily, we will begin to use it in live service," he said.

The bus will fill up at a hydrogen fueling station at the Office of the Physical Plant across from Beaver Stadium. The station was constructed by the Philadelphia-based company Air Products and Chemicals Inc.

The leader of the project, Penn State professor Joel Anstrom, said the Hybrid and Hydrogen Research Center began working with the U.S. Department of Energy to conduct research at the station to develop hydrogen fuel for use in the mainstream market.

"The point for hydrogen is that it is an energy carrier that you can derive from many different sources," Anstrom said. "If it becomes a fuel standard, it opens a ready market for renewable energy."

The ultimate goal of his research is to have hydrogen-powered vehicles become the commercial standard, Anstrom said. His team has constructed a vehicle that can run entirely on hydrogen fuel cells and emits only water.

"The hydrogen blend is kind of a different market," he said. "Fuel-cell vehicles are much more efficient [than the hydrogen blend.]"

Mose said CATA was eager to join the project because of its commitment to finding cleaner ways to power its buses.

"This seemed to us to be the next logical step forward in terms of how fuels are made going into the future," he said.

Ed Kiczek, senior business development manager for future energy solutions at Air Products and Chemicals Inc., said his company's construction of the hydrogen station was another step in the process of making hydrogen a viable energy source. The company has constructed 52 other similar prototypes across the nation to conduct research.

"At the moment, we keep progressing the technology to get much more cost-effective," he said. "It's a long way before it will ever be commercial."

Kiczek and Anstrom noted that the Department of Energy projected that hydrogen vehicles could be ready for the commercial market by 2015, provided that it is found to be a feasible alternative to gasoline.

The hydrogen station in State College is capable of producing one kilogram of hydrogen, the equivalent of 100 gallons of gasoline, per day and is projected for use in an urban area, Anstrom said.

"This station has way more capacity than we have vehicles," he said.

Penn State Environmental Society President John Terry said he was encouraged by the hydrogen research being conducted on campus.

'It seemed pretty impressive that they were doing that here," he said. "It seems like they're on the right track to get away from using oil, especially if they're able to use pure hydrogen."