巧克力菌可能成为未来氢能的来源

Chocoholic  germs  can  reportedly  provide  hydrogen,  the  clean-burning  energy  of  the  future.

British  scientists  fed  Escherichia  coli  bacteria  a  diluted  mix  of  waste  caramel  and  nougat.  The  germs  tucked  into  the  sugar  and  in  the  process  produced  hydrogen,  using  their  own  enzyme,  called  hydrogenase,  New  Scientist  reports.

The  hydrogen  was  used  to  power  a  fuel  cell,  generating  enough  electricity  to  drive  a  small  fan.

The  experiment  has  applications  far  beyond  the  lab.  Waste  chocolate,  instead  of  being  thrown  away  by  confectionary  companies,  could  be  turned  into  hydrogen  and  used  to  help  power  their  factories  or  sold  to  energy  companies.

The  British  team,  led  by  Lynne  Mackaskie  at  the  University  of  Birmingham,  central  England,  got  the  same  bacteria  to  tuck  into  catalytic  converters  from  old  cars.

The  bacteria  cleverly  recovered  the  precious  metal  palladium  after  they  were  immersed  in  a  vat  with  hydrogen  and  liquid  waste  from  spent  converters.

The  work  is  reported  in  full  in  a  specialist  journal,  Biochemical  Society  Transactions,  the  report  says. (责任编辑：泉水)

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巧克力菌可能成为未来氢能的来源