Charleston's Yeager Airport will be the site of a federally sponsored project to build a hydrogen fuel plant that will eventually be open for public use.

The Department of Energy will build the facility and give hydrogen-powered vehicles to the airport before selling it to a private company.

Cars and trucks can run on the fuel, but they currently need large compression tanks to do so. The only byproduct of hydrogen fuel is water. It can be produced for about $2.10 per gallon.

There are more than 60 hydrogen fuel stations throughout the United States.

To build the plant, the energy department plans to remove about 100 feet of a nearby hilltop, at a cost of between $10 million and $12 million.