Hydrogen: Bioengineered algae bringing hydrogen fuel-cells closer?

Maybe somebody found a way to some open questions with hydrogen for cars.

While most car manufacturers believe that hydrogen fuel cells are the long-term solution to reducing petroleum consumption and automotive air pollution, a number of problems remain unsolved at present. Two of the biggest are how to produce hydrogen efficiently, and how to store it in a vehicle.

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have engineered a strain of pond scum that could, with further refinements, produce vast amounts of hydrogen through photosynthesis.

"An increase in solar conversion efficiency to 10 percent ... is thought to be enough to make the mass culture of algae viable," says Juergen Polle, a former student of Melis’ who now does research on algae at the City University of New York, Brooklyn.

Related news: Foursprung, P4MR, Hydrogen

Source: Autoblog, Wired

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