Marin County will soon have its first hydrogen refueling station, though at the moment there are no hydrogen-powered vehicles to use it. But that’s likely to change in the fall, when Toyota rolls out the first commercially available fuel cell car, a zero-emission subcompact called the Mirai.

In expectation of hydrogen becoming the fuel of tomorrow, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District this week approved $2.2 million to complete a dozen hydrogen refueling stations in the Bay Area. The Marin station will be at 570 Redwood Highway, an unincorporated area east of Highway 101 near Mill Valley.

It’s being built by First Element Fuel, a private company based in Newport Beach that will own and operate it. First Element is poised to begin construction right away, hoping to have the station up and running by the end of October, when the first cars hit the market.

“It would be very difficult to have a hydrogen fuel car right now in Marin because there are no stations to fill it up, so you wouldn’t be able to drive it anywhere,” said Tom Flannigan, a spokesman for the air quality district. “We are encouraging the construction of the infrastructure first so that people can buy these cars.”

Environmentally friendly hydrogen produces no air pollutants or greenhouse gases when used in fuel cells. The hydrogen refueling stations are part of the district’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050.

“We’re trying to promote zero emission technology, and we believe this is the best way,” Flannigan said. “This new wave of modern vehicles are more thoroughly tested, proving hydrogen to be a viable option for people in the Bay Area.”

In the beginning, fuel cell vehicles will be pricier than conventional gasoline cars. Sticker price on the Toyota Mirai, for example, will begin at about $57,000, considerably higher than equivalent gasoline-fueled subcompacts.

“That’s the reality, but the goal is to bring the price down over time,” said Tim Brown, a co-founder and CFO of First Element Fuel. “But on Day One that won’t be the case.”

Fuel cell vehicles, which look like conventional cars and trucks on the outside, convert hydrogen gas and oxygen into electricity to power an electric motor. A kilogram of hydrogen is equal in energy to a gallon of gasoline. According to fueleconomy.gov, a U.S. government website, fuel economy for the Mirai is 66 miles per kilogram. It has a range of 312 miles.

The Marin station is part of a Bay Area network that will include stations in Berkeley, Campbell, Foster City, Hayward, Los Altos, Mountain View, Oakland, Redwood City, San Jose, South San Francisco and Woodside. A station already exists in Emeryville.

The bulk of the funding comes from $50 million from the California Energy Commission. In addition to the $2.2 million from the air quality district, First Element and Toyota are investing in the project.

“We’re very bullish on this,” First Element’s Brown said. “If others were as gung ho as us, they would be into this as deep as we are. We really believe this is the future.”