A Southern California sewage treatment plant has been turned into a filling station for hydrogen-powered cars, officials said.

An experimental fuel cell at the Orange County Sanitation District facility in Fountain Valley produces both hydrogen and electricity from waste gas, The Orange County Register reported Monday.

Jeffrey P. Brown, a senior engineer at the Sanitation District, said the waste plants' fuel cell project was unique.

"Nobody else is doing electricity and vehicle fuel at the same time," he said.

While more and more hydrogen cars are showing up in Southern California, the main drawback is an ongoing lack of refueling stations.

"California continues to be one of the three leading areas in the world for hydrogen vehicles, the other two being Germany and Japan," said Scott Samuelsen, an engineering professor at UC Irvine whose research group has been involved in the Sanitation District's fuel cell project.

"Creating projects like this is looking very promising," he said. "All of a sudden, this technology is producing hydrogen 24/7. It's causing wastewater treatment plants to say, 'My goodness, this could be a win-win.'"

The Fountain Valley hydrogen station is a three-year demonstration project being funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the state Air Resources Board and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

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