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Environment

Sustainable Microbial Hydrogen Production

November 26, 2007 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 85, Issue 48

Hydrogen-powered transportation may reduce environmental emissions, but most H2 is currently generated from nonrenewable fossil fuels, such as natural gas. To address this conundrum, Shaoan Cheng and Bruce E. Logan at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, have devised an efficient method for directly producing H2 from any type of biomass in a modified microbial fuel cell (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2007, 104, 18871). Inside the fuel cell, bacteria grown from soil and wastewater feed on cellulose, glucose, and the acid by-products of fermentation, such as acetic and butyric acids. Applying a small voltage (0.2–0.8 V) to the circuit converts the protons and electrons released by the bacteria into H2 at the cathode. The fuel cell produced H2 in good yields with an overall energy efficiency of up to 82%. The researchers suggest that the applied voltage also could come from renewable sources. And even if an H2-based transportation system never develops, they say their method could make other processes that use H2, such as fertilizer production, less dependent on fossil fuels.

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