Schematic diagram of hydrogen-oxygen reaction taking place in hydrogenase CpI. Numerous researchers are exploring the use of enzymes known as hydrogenases as a mechanism for producing molecular hydrogen from microorganisms (i.e., bio-hydrogen). One of the main barriers to this process, however, is that hydrogenase, when exposed to oxygen, eventually shuts... Read more →

GTL Science and Technology Foundations for DOE Missions. The Department of Energy (DOE) today issued a comprehensive plan for a new generation of biological research that builds on genome project investments to tackle national energy and environmental challenges. The Genomics: GTL (Genomes to Life) Roadmap—Systems Biology for Energy and Environment... Read more →

C. perfringens, H2 Producer Dennis Kunkel Microscopy, Inc. NanoLogix, formerly InfecTech (earlier post), has signed an agreement to generate hydrogen from a scaled-up bio-reactor system using waste organic matter from a winery as feedstock for hydrogen-producing bacteria. There are two basic approaches to the microbial production of hydrogen: fermentative and... Read more →

The Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) are working together to develop cost-effective technologies for hydrogen production from biomass resources. Under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two agencies today, DOE and USDA experts will meet regularly to share information on technologies and... Read more →

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are investigating the use of a new type of nanodevice for photocatalytic solar hydrogen production from water. The new devices are porphyrin nanotubes—nanotubes made entirely of oppositely charged porphyrin molecules that self-assemble in water at room temperature. (Electron microscope image of porphyrin nanotube at right.)... Read more →

The EU is funding SOLAR-H, a new research network focusing on discovering and developing new methods of producing hydrogen. The research will span artificial photosynthesis in man-made chemical systems and photo-biological H2 production using living organisms. The research goals are to develop “novel, as yet unproven or even non-existing routes”... Read more →

Infectech, a Pennsylvania biotech company, is developing a prototype bioreactor to produce hydrogen with the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering of Gannon University in Erie, PA. Originally founded in 1989 for the development of diagnostic kits for infectious diseases, Infectech is diversifying into technologies for the production of alternative... Read more →

Linde AG, an international technology group, is sponsoring research into the biological production of hydrogen by microalgae. Linde Gas and Engineering, one of the group’s two primary lines of business, is focusing strongly on hydrogen production. The research team at the Christian-Albrecht-Universität (CAU) in Kiel is studying the ability of... Read more →

Virent Energy Systems, a Madison, Wisconsin-based nanotech startup developing a catalytic process to derive hydrogen fuel from biomass, has received an additional $550,000 in funding. The startup, spun off from UW-Madison in 2002, will receive up to $250,000 in funding through agreements with the Center for Technology Transfer Inc., while... Read more →