Hydrogen is a clean energy source, but it is difficult to make, store and transport. American scientists have developed a new technology to produce hydrogen from polysaccharides, which is expected to solve these problems in one fell swoop.

 

Nowadys, humans use natural gas to make hydrogen, and gaseous hydrogen is not easy to transport and store. These factors hinder the development of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

 

Starch(made by starch production line), cellulose and other carbohydrates contain a lot of hydrogen, but they are very stable, only in the role of enzymes will break down. Scientists use synthetic biology to convert carbohydrates and water to carbon dioxide and hydrogen using a mixture of 13 enzymes.

 

Experiments show that this reaction can occur at about 30 ° C and 1 atm. After the extraction of carbon dioxide, hydrogen into the fuel cell to generate electricity, by-product water can be recycled. In the reaction, hydrogen is the main product, the efficiency of the decomposition of biological substances than the nature of hydrogen production efficiency of 3 times higher, the cost per pound of hydrogen may be less than 1 US dollars.

 

The use of this new technology, the car does not need to carry hydrogen tank, and only carry starch and other carbohydrates, in the operation of the site from the production of hydrogen. Fuel tank capacity of 12 gallons of car can carry about 27 kilograms of starch, equivalent to 4 kilograms of hydrogen, for cars traveling 300 miles.