Researchers are studying the possibility of hydrogen fuel production using green energy; an advancement that can bring alge produced biofuel to a whole new level.Bioenergy is energy that is produced from biological sources such as plants, agricultural crops and living organisms. Fuel, also known as biofuel, can be derived from these biological or organic sources. It is renewable, natural, and environmentally friendly.
One primary source of biofuel is algae. It is noted that one acre of algae can produce between 1,000 to 5,000 gallons of biofuel each year. The fact that it is sustainable and renewable, biofuel technology has grown tremendously with global biofuel production growing from 17.8 billion liters in 2009 to 21.4 billion liters in 2011.
Algae and Hydrogen
New research results from Uppsala University, Sweden, instill hope of efficient hydrogen production with green algae being possible in the future, despite the prevailing scepticism based on previous research. The study, which is published today in the esteemed journal PNAS, changes the view on the ability of green algae – which is good news.
The world must find a way of producing fuel from renewable energy sources to replace the fossil fuels. Hydrogen is today considered one of the most promising fuels for the future and if hydrogen can be produced directly from sunlight you have a renewable and environmentally friendly energy source.
One biological way of producing hydrogen from solar energy is using photosynthetic microorganisms. Photosynthesis splits water into hydrogen ions (H+) and electrons (e-). These can later be combined into hydrogen gas, (H2) with the use of special enzymes called hydrogenases. This occurs in cyanobacteria and green algae, which have the ability to use energy from the sun through photosynthesis and produce hydrogen through their own metabolism.
Video: Algae Biofuels
That green algae can produce hydrogen under certain conditions has been known and studied for about 15 years, but low efficiency has been a problem, i.e. the amount of energy absorbed by the algae that is transformed into hydrogen. One enzyme that has the ability to use sunlight to split water into electrons, hydrogen ions and oxygen is Photosystem II. Several studies have shown that some of the electrons from the enzyme are used to produce hydrogen gas under special conditions. But some have stated that most of the hydrogen gas gets its energy from other paths in the metabolism of the green algae. This would entail that it is not a matter of actual direct production of hydrogen from sunlight, and that green algae are no more efficient as energy crops than plants.
A group of researchers at Uppsala University, led by Senior Lecturer Fikret Mamedov and Professor Stenbjörn Styring, have now made a discovery that changes the view on hydrogen production from green algae. The researchers studied in detail how Photosystem II works in two different strains of the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. By measuring exactly how the amount and activity of Photosystem II varies under different conditions, and thereby affects hydrogen production, they found that a considerable amount of the energy absorbed by Photosystem II goes directly into hydrogen production.
"As much as 80 per cent of the electrons that the hydrogen-producing hydrogenases need come from Photosystem II, which is much more than previously believed. This means that most of the hydrogen production is driven directly by solar energy. The discovery gives us hope that it in the future will be possible to control the green algae so that the efficiency becomes significantly higher than it is today", says Professor Stenbjörn Styring.
RELATED LINKS
Uppsala University
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Bioengineered Plant Boosts Oil Production For Use in BioFuels
Bioenergy Demand Competing With Food Production For Land Availability
Creating Hydrogen Fuel Using Solar Energy Through Artificial Photosynthesis
Integrated Hydropyrolysis and Hydroconversion Pushes Biofuel Production Forward To The Future
Algae Shows Great Promise As A Next Generation Sustainable and Renewable Bio Fuel
US$ 257 Billion Global Investment in Renewable Energy for 2011 With Solar Energy On Top
Research and Advances in Bio-Engineered Algae Nanocellulose at 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society
Bi-Functional Alkane Producing Enzyme Developed For More Efficient Biofuel Production
From Fuel Cell to Fuel Tank - Studying How To Maximize Efficiency of Hydrogen as an Alternative Fuel
Gasoline from Algae
Cheap and Efficient Zero Waste Biorefinery Converts Orange Peels To Fuel
Surface And Atmospheric Winds Can Meet All of the World's Energy Demand
Stanford Researchers Map Out Alternative Energy Plan For New York
MIT News: Bacterial Gene Discovered Enabling Survival in Extreme Conditions
