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Hydrogen-Emitting Microbe Examined

Posted by Zonk on from the such-lovely-genetics dept.

Concerned Onlooker wrote to mention an article at Science Daily discussing a microbe that lives in volcanic environments, which emits Hydrogen gas as a waste product. "As the world increasingly considers hydrogen as a potential biofuel, technology could benefit from having the genomes of such microbes. 'C. hydrogenoformans is one of the fastest-growing microbes that can convert water and carbon monoxide to hydrogen," remarks TIGR evolutionary biologist Jonathan Eisen, senior author of the PLoS Genetics study. "So if you're interested in making clean fuels, this microbe makes an excellent starting point.'"

3 of 192 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Quick question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Incomplete oxidation of carbon fuels.

    So, while you might be quick to think "we still need to burn fossil fuels to produce this hydrogen", the point is, currently it's a WASTE material.
    And besides, that, Its a nice carbon fixer.

    In theory, these bacteria could be burned to produce more carbon monoxide (of course, that's just speculation, but I assume they're carbon based life forms).

  2. Working temperature? by hunte · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is a nice job for a microbe, but I don't have see any information about the working temperature that this microbe needs to make the chemical process... Maybe this could be another problem... The volcanic habitat it's very hot (and hard to emulate)...

    --
    about me A - B
  3. A few questions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is very interesting indeed. A low-energy process by which free hydrogen can be produced. But a few questions.

    - The article mentions that oxygens need to be removed from the water; How much energy does this require?
    - In what quantities is the hydrogen produced; What quantities is needed to power a fuel cell?
    - How efficient is this process compared to electrolysis.

    Also it says that the water needs to be boiling in order for the microbes to have optimal conditions; But then of course the energy has to come from somewhere. The water might be heated using solar or wind power i guess. Which brings us back to to the storage problem, and most hydrogen storage solutions(not based on pressure-tanks) require heat to release the hydrogen.