Researchers Develop Hydrogen-producing Algae

Source: DNA India
[May 20, 2006]

BIELEFELD (Germany): The green energy of the future: A German-Australian research team has succeeded in breeding algae, which produce hydrogen in previously unheard-of quantities.

Amid rising oil prices and dwindling energy reserves, a genetically altered alga is now nourishing visions of an environment-friendly supply of energy.

Researchers from the University of Bielefeld in Germany and the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, have genetically changed the single-cell green alga "Chlamydomonas reinhardtii" in such a way that it produces an especially large amount of hydrogen.

This gas can then be burned to produce energy. In contrast to the use of fossil-based fuels such as petroleum, coal or natural gas, no carbon dioxide is produced, but instead only water. It has been known for a long time that certain algae can produce hydrogen during the photosynthetic process, explains Bielefeld biologist Olaf Kruse.

But the catch was efficiency, as one litre of alga produces only about 100 ml of hydrogen. "Then it's over, because the cells die off."

But the genetically altered variant boosts this up to half a litre of hydrogen. By Kruse's estimates, it can produce five times the volume made by the wild form of alga.