New Possibilities For Hydrogen-producing Algae

clipped from www.sciencedaily.com ScienceDaily (Mar. 25, 2009) — Photosynthesis produces the food that we eat and the oxygen that we breathe ― could it also help satisfy our future energy needs by producing clean-burning hydrogen? Researchers studying a hydrogen-producing, single-celled green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, have unmasked a previously unknown fermentation pathway that may open up possibilities for increasing hydrogen production. C. reinhartii, a common inhabitant of soils, naturally produces small quantities of hydrogen when deprived of oxygen. Like yeast and other microbes, under anaerobic conditions this alga generates its energy from fermentation. During fermentation, hydrogen is released though the action of an enzyme called hydrogenase Normally, only a small fraction of the electrons go into generating hydrogen. However, a major research goal has been to develop ways to increase this fraction, which would raise the potential yield of hydrogen.