Researchers Develop Algae Bioengineered To Produce Hydrogen
- May 26, 2011 1:04 PM EST
- [num] Comments
Scientists are working on ways to make hydrogen a more plentiful fuel source, and the answer may just lie with algae, which can be bioengineered to produce the substance.
While many forms of algae are able to turn sunlight into hydrogen, they don't do so in great amounts, and instead focus on creating compounds like sugar that are imperative for their survival. This has made it difficult for researchers to successfully produce large amounts of algae-created hydrogen without killing them.
But that may have changed, as a team at MIT has developed an enzyme that increases hydrogen production by 400 percent and suppresses the algae's need to create sugar, all without killing the creatures. It's not yet a commercially viable option, but it's on its way.
"It's one step closer to an industrial process," researcher Shuguang Zhang told Wired. "First, you have to understand the science."
Zhang says it's simply "a matter of time and money."