Hydrogen-Producing Bacteria Could Provide Clean Energy 57
Iddo Genuth writes "Scientists at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and North Carolina State University (NC State) have developed cooperatively a new 'green' technology which could lead to clean production of hydrogen from nitrogen-fixing bacteria."
Still need sugars (Score:3, Interesting)
Creating these sugars is the energy intensive bit.
Of course, if TFA says, they can find/discover/developa organisms that can break cellulose down to these sugars, then things are going to get *very* interesting.
Re:Still need sugars (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Still need sugars (Score:2, Interesting)
Through a symbiotic relationship with bacteria in their digestive systems. Most herbivores can digest cellulistic material far better then humans who have neither the same digestive tract setup nor the same set of symbiotic bacterias. Which suits me just fine, the cows can graze all day and I can have steak. Sure beats chewing grass all day. Hopefully scientists will be very careful and chose not to genetically engineer the bacteria necessary to aid the digestion of ruminants, don't need high levels of hydrogenated fats in my steak. Prefer they stick to risking their mistakes to similar bacteria elsewhere in nature or better yet, find a bacteria they don't have to change to do the job. The methane itself could be very useful if captured.
Re:Still need sugars (Score:3, Interesting)
"Using a selecting agent to grow only these trolls, the teams identified a gene that inactivates the Troll's hydrogen uptake system so that all of the hydrogen produced is released. Because the troll's cells cannot recycle the hydrogen, the hydrogen they produce can be captured and used as a fuel whose byproduct is water and heat"
But the real question is whether or not feeding the trolls legumes will offset the drawbacks of using trolls, via the "Peanut Butter Effect".
Re:Clean? (Score:2, Interesting)
Energy issues in general were clearly in mind. (Score:3, Interesting)
At this point, given what I've seen in these fields, I'm ready to proclaim Rustin's Corrollary to Moore's Law, that computer-based research and development on microorganisms will typically yield even faster increases in productivity than are experienced in silicon-based systems themselves. In some cases it may even be valid to dump the "computer-based" though I doubt it. In other words, if you think that Moore's Law has improved things fast, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
Re:Clean? (Score:3, Interesting)
How about cat shit coffee? [wikipedia.org]
penn state does it better (Score:2, Interesting)