In past we have come across a number of news about using enzymes to drive some energy sources like powering cell phones etc. and now comes a new theory that will make use of sugary carbohydrates combined with water and a mixture of enzymes to produce hydrogen to fuel your cars. Virginia Tech researchers want to experiment on this matter so that t he mixture could produce enough hydrogen to drive cars to their destination.

The researchers have incorporated a sugar-hydrogen-fuel cell that has an energy conversion rate three times higher than sugar-ethanol-internal combustion. It will use starch to feed the enzymes and provide them with energy to split the water and produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide that would be further used to power a hydrogen fuel cell. A twelve gallon fuel tank would hold enough starch to produce 4kg of hydrogen which could provide 300 miles of range with the latest fuel cells.

The biggest advantage with this technology will be that it can use all the byproducts and has no ill effects on the environment. The water obtained after the process can be recycles and reused in enzymes process. The second byproduct ‘carbon dioxide’ is environmentally neutral as it is produced from biomass.

Now the researchers are working on to increase the reaction rates for the hydrogen to make it fast enough to be useful as a transport fuel and reduce the cost of the enzymes.

Via: autobloggreen