It’s all part of a pilot project involving hydrogen fuel-cell-powered forklifts at Ace Hardware Corp.’s Sacramento-region distribution center, located just over the Roseville city limits in Placer County’s Sunset Industrial Area.

Warehouse managers replaced the standard lead-acid batteries in six of the facility’s 41 forklifts earlier this year with the system in an effort to assess its widespread viability. The fuel-cells, which are powered by compressed hydrogen, react with oxygen to produce electric power – and emit clean water as a byproduct.

Local officials took notice. Earlier this month, the Placer County Air Pollution Control District announced a $10,000 grant to help the company fund additional testing.

Last Wednesday, air quality, county and manufacturer representatives turned out for a tour of the 1 million-square-foot facility and to catch the equipment in action.

On the tour, officials watched as an Ace employee changed out a battery on a traditional forklift. The process took about five minutes, required some heavy lifting of its own, and must be completed every few hours; spent batteries need about five hours to recharge.

But in another part of the warehouse – amidst stacks of mulch and potting soil – warehouse manager Jim Worley attached a few tubes from a fueling station to a 26-volt Crown brand forklift retrofitted with a GenDrive fuel cell that more than a little resembled a minitower-style personal computer.

Worley disconnected the tubes, which infuse hydrogen and whisk away a liter of water. The forklift was ready for an entire shift after less than two minutes.

“That’s time my team member’s out being a productive person,” Worley said.

To be sure, the system still faces some hurdles before warehouse managers commit to adopting the system permanently, a decision expected later this spring. Most importantly, it’s not necessarily cheaper than plug-in battery-powered forklifts, officials said.

“But I know we’re saving time,” Worley said.

Costs are expected to come down further as the technology gains more adherents. Fuel-cell forklift warehouses are still rare, though interest in converting existing forklifts to the new technology is growing, said Craig Kelly of Crown Equipment Corp., the forklift manufacturer.

“As demand grows, the cost per unit drops, and as the cost per unit drops, it becomes available to other companies,” said Ace vice president Bill Bauman.

Catherine Dunwoody, executive director of the West Sacramento-based California Fuel Cell Partnership, praised the industrial use of fuel cells as a warm-up for widespread adoption by consumers. The technology is seen as an eventual replacement for gasoline-powered automobiles, though mass production of those vehicles is still years away.

“It may seem like a small step, but the small steps are what’s going to help us get to that big vision,” she said.