SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - Microbial Hydrogen Production Threatens Extinction for the Ethanol Dinosaur

Woo hoo! Set Ethenol out on its ears and finially get closer to hydrogen technology! We will still be able to drive, and the ppor world will once again be able to eat! :up:

Somehow I missed this article back then!

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.js...=NSF&from=news

-S

Quote:

Press Release 07-168
Microbes Churn Out Hydrogen at Record Rate
http://www.nsf.gov/images/greenlineshort2.jpg In new table-top reactor, bacteria from wastewater produce abundant, clean hydrogen from cellulose, or even vinegar, and a little electricity

By adding a few modifications to their successful wastewater fuel cell, researchers have coaxed common bacteria to produce hydrogen in a new, efficient way.

Bruce Logan and colleagues at Penn State University had already shown success at using microbes to produce electricity. Now, using starter material that could theoretically be sourced from a salad bar, the researchers have coaxed those same microbes to generate hydrogen....

http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/4...drogenhyb8.jpg

Researchers have designed a microbial electrolysis cell in which bacteria break up acetic acid (a product of plant waste fermentation) to produce hydrogen gas with a very small electric input from an outside source. Hydrogen can then be used for fuel cells or as a fuel additive in vehicles that now run on natural gas.