Hydrogen Fuel Cells Monitor

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Green cars could run on carbon neutral starch syrup

Researchers have found a cocktail of enzymes that converts starchy syrups to hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen can then be fed into a fuel cell to run an electric car and could even be used in an ordinary combustion engine. According to Y-H Percival Zhang of Virginia Tech in the US, the method hinges on a mixture of 13 common enzymes, which are normally found separately in plants, rabbits, bacteria and yeast, but never together in nature. When added to starch and water, "the enzymes use the energy in the starch to break up water into CO2 and hydrogen." The CO2 is then separated from the hydrogen by a membrane and returned to the atmosphere. Because the starch is taken from biomass - wood and plants - the same amount of CO2 is released by the conversion as was taken out of the atmosphere by plants to produce the starch in the first place. ;

New Scientist 2007-05-00

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