Hydrogen fuel cells run off sewage

The next time you peer into the local sewers (no idea on the reason behind you doing so though), you might just stumble upon some turtles that know kung-fu – or your eyes might end up looking at what could very well power hydrogen fuel cells in the future. That’s what has been happening at the Orange County sewage treatment plant, where hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles are able to be filled up by taking advantage of the methane generated by treating wastewater, relying on it as fuel in a fuel cell.

The majority of the hydrogen generated in this manner will be used to power the plant, while some of it are sent to a fueling station for public use. This particular fueling station is able to fill up anywhere from 25 to 50 fuel-cell electric vehicles each day – now how about that?

Well, we just wonder whether such an idea will be able to take off in the long run – will other sewage treatment plants around the country step up to the plate and fulfill their destiny of delivering clean power to green vehicles? [Press Release]

Edwin Kee
Categories: Green
Tags: fuel cell