Biological Hydrogen Production
- $1.14m Funded by ARENA
- $2.82m Total project cost
Summary
The Biological Hydrogen Production project will produce a bacteria that can efficiently and rapidly convert sugars from various renewable sources into hydrogen gas.
Key results
- Successfully optimised a strain of bacteria to utilise simple sugars derived from biomass to produce hydrogen
- Achieved high rates (~10 fold higher than target production rate) and high yields of hydrogen production from glucose (>20%)
- Developed methods for the accurate measurement and control of hydrogen production from the engineered strain of bacteria
- Demonstrated the process and application by powering a small device directly from a small fuel cell powered by the hydrogen (with no storage)
- The bioengineered hydrogen producing strain provides an alternative for low carbon hydrogen production that does not rely on significant electricity infrastructure or storage requirements. The technology to produce hydrogen can be developed in a modular fashion at the site of availability of the waste biomass feedstocks.
How the project works
The Biological Hydrogen Production project led by Macquarie University will produce a bacterial strain that is optimised for converting glucose and other carbohydrates to hydrogen gas. The bacterial strains will also be optimised to produce the gas rapidly such that both rates and yields of hydrogen production are commercially viable. To move towards commercial scale the project will also develop a 2 L scale culture system that can produce and collect hydrogen gas in a safe and effective way.
Learn more
Report: Biological Hydrogen Production End of Activity
This is the final Lessons Learnt Report from Macquarie University, providing insights into the scope and outcomes of the Project.
Report: Biological Hydrogen Production Mid-Term Activity
This mid-term report describes how the project has exceeded initial targets for scaling-up their process of producing a strain of bacteria that generates hydrogen from renewable carbohydrate feedstocks such as glucose and sucrose.
Media Release: ARENA Launches $20 Million Hydrogen Funding Round
ARENA announced funding round for early stage research and development into hydrogen to propel innovation in exporting renewable energy.
Area of innovation
Hydrogen is an energy carrier as it is energy dense on a weight basis and produces zero emissions in hydrogen fuel cells. Thus production of hydrogen from a renewable carbohydrate is attractive as it is both carbon neutral and the carbohydrate may act as an efficient and safe storage mechanism if rates of hydrogen production from the carbohydrate are high enough.
Benefit
Hydrogen gas is a clean and efficient energy carrier that can be used as a fuel to produce electricity in hydrogen fuel cells as well as other energy applications. This project aims to provide a system for the cost effective and relatively rapid production of hydrogen from carbohydrate sources. This is a sustainable system of hydrogen production with no net impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
ARENAWIRE Blogs
Cutting-edge hydrogen research in Australia
Researchers are developing new ways to export Australia’s renewable energy in the form of hydrogen.
How could renewable hydrogen power our lives?
Hydrogen offers a way to produce a renewable, emissions-free fuel using the power of the sun and wind.
ARENA awards $22 million to unlock hydrogen potential
In recent weeks, the buzz around the potential for hydrogen to unlock opportunities to export renewable energy to the world has gone from a light murmur to a loud hum.
