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Bio-hydrogen
[Due to the increasing size of the archives, each topic page now contains only the prior 365 days of content. Access to older stories is now solely through the Monthly Archive pages or the site search function.]
Researchers develop new approach to optimize hydrogen production in a photosynthetic process
May 24, 2011
Researchers have developed a previously undescribed approach to optimize hydrogen production in a photosynthetic process by microorganisms such as algae and cyanobacteria. An open access paper on their work is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Although photosynthetic water splitting, coupled to hydrogenase-catalyzed hydrogen production, is considered a promising clean, renewable source of energy, commercialization of this process has been limited because of the oxygen sensitivity of hydrogen production, combined with competition between hydrogen-producing enzymes (hydrogenases) and NADPH-dependent carbon dioxide fixation in the organisms—i.e., for the production of compounds that the organisms use to support their own growth.
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Blocking CO2 fixation in certain bacteria can greatly increase biohydrogen production
March 30, 2011
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| The H2 yield increases when Calvin cycle flux is blocked by mutation (black bars; white bars represent the parent). Source: McKinlay and Harwood. Click to enlarge. |
Reducing the ability of certain bacteria to fix carbon dioxide can greatly increase their production of hydrogen gas, according to a open access paper by Caroline Harwood and James McKinlay from the University of Washington, Seattle, in the current issue of online journal mBio.
Phototrophic bacteria, including purple nonsulfur bacteria (PNSB) such as Rhodopseudomonas palustris, obtain energy from light and carbon from organic compounds during anaerobic growth (photoheterotrophy). Cells can naturally produce hydrogen as a way of disposing of excess electrons. Hydrogen is an obligate product of the nitrogenase reaction, which is better known for converting N2 gas to NH3.
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NSF and JST launch joint program Metabolomics for a Low Carbon Society; focus on energy and environment
February 10, 2011
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| Conceptual sketch of future metabolomics challenges and opportunities from May 2010 NSF-JST workshop on metabolomics. Click to enlarge. |
The US National Science Foundation (NSF) and Japan Science and Technology Agency (NSF-JST) have launched a joint program, Metabolomics for a Low Carbon Society (METABOLOMICS), and are soliciting research projects. The goal of this joint NSF-JST program is to advance novel biological knowledge in metabolomics in the areas of energy and the environment, and to foster greater collaborative interactions between Japanese and US scientists in these priority areas.
The metabolome is the complete set of metabolites expressed within an organism, and reflects the networks of enzymatic pathways encoded within the genome as well as the interplay of developmental processes and a changing environment over the lifetime of the organism. Key goals of metabolomics research include 1) chemical annotation, i.e. determining the chemical structure of each molecule; 2) biological annotation, i.e. connecting each metabolite to a specific enzyme, biochemical pathway, or biological process; and 3) metabolomic annotation, i.e. the distribution of each metabolite in different cells of an organism which includes spatial and temporal information as well as concentration.
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ORNL researchers developing biohybrid photoconversion system to convert visible light into hydrogen
February 03, 2011
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| Neutron scattering analysis performed at ORNL shows the lamellar structure of a hydrogen-producing, biohybrid composite material formed by the self-assembly of naturally occurring, light harvesting proteins with polymers. Source: ORNL. Click to enlarge. |
Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory are developing a biohybrid photoconversion system based on the interaction of photosynthetic plant proteins with synthetic polymers that can convert visible light into hydrogen fuel.
In a step toward synthetic solar conversion systems, the ORNL researchers have demonstrated and confirmed with small-angle neutron scattering analysis that light harvesting complex II (LHC-II) proteins can self-assemble with polymers into a synthetic membrane structure and produce hydrogen. The researchers envision energy-producing photoconversion systems similar to photovoltaic cells that generate hydrogen fuel, comparable to the way plants and other photosynthetic organisms convert light to energy.
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Researchers report on cyanobacterium that can produce biohydrogen under aerobic conditions
December 15, 2010
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| Schematic diagram showing the process of biohydrogen production by Cyanothece 51142 cells using solar energy and atmospheric CO2 and/or glycerol. Bandyopadhyay et al. Click to enlarge. |
Researchers from Washington University and Purdue University report on the ability of the single-celled cyanobacterium Cyanothece 51142 to produce biohydrogen under aerobic conditions in a paper published 14 December in the journal Nature Communications. Until now, the only organisms known to produce biohydrogen could only produce it in an anaerobic environment—making such a pathway for biohydrogen production potentially expensive to scale-up.
Cyanothece 51142 was discovered in 1993, off the coast of Texas, by Louis Sherman of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, a co-author on the study. Himadri Pakrasi at Washington University later discovered that the bacterium has a two-stage daily cycle. During the day it undergoes photosynthesis, using sunlight and carbon dioxide to make oxygen and branching chains of glucose molecules called glycogen. At night, the microbe’s nitrogenase enzyme kicks into action, using the energy stored in the glycogen to fix nitrogen from the air into ammonia. Hydrogen is formed as a by-product.
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Biohydrocarbon Fuel Company LS9 Wins Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award
June 21, 2010
LS9, a synthetic biology company developing fermentation-derived drop-in renewable fuels and chemicals (earlier post), has won a 2010 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for its “Renewable Petroleum” technology that converts sustainable, plant-based materials into low-carbon fuels and chemicals.
LS9 modifies the ACP pathway in bacteria to produce renewable hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals with optimized properties, including UltraClean Diesel and surfactants, which LS9 is commercializing with one of its strategic partners, Procter and Gamble.
