Air Products has set up a wastewater treatment plant in Orange County USA that produces hydrogen, electricity and heat from municipal wastewater. This is the first technology application of its kind in the world and seeks to lead the way with sustainable (and affordable) hydrogen production.

The facility will produce enough hydrogen to fuel between 25 and 50 fuel cells vehicles each day in addition to providing 250 kilowatts of electricity.

The process for producing the hydrogen involves holding the wastewater in tanks until methane gas is produced. This gas is then captured and reformed to make hydrogen that is pure enough to be used in fuel cell vehicles.

Probably the most interesting part about this process is that the feedstock does not necessarily have to be sewage. Air Products’ has identified a number of other potential feedstock’s such as agricultural, food, and brewery wastes and landfill gas which can make use of the same process.

Moreover, Air Products boldy states that “If all of these available streams were converted to hydrogen, it could support fueling up to 200 million fuel cell vehicles in the U.S. with hydrogen and point to sustainable energy independence.”

You can read more about this story in Air Products’ press release here.