ASU researchers are working on a project that could revolutionize the production of hydrogen fuel cells, a solution to the rapidly depleting fossil fuel supply.
Not only is the supply diminishing, but there is also concern over the adverse environmental effects of burning fossil fuels. The fuels cause global warming, said Neal Woodbury, professor of chemistry and biochemistry.
"The long-term necessity is creating energy using things that can be recycled," he said.
And that's exactly what Woodbury and a team of ASU scientists are trying to develop. Their aim is to create a source of hydrogen fuel, which would reduce harmful emissions and could be replenished.
"We need to store power created by renewable sources and transport it," Woodbury said. "Hydrogen is one possibility that looks most likely."
The challenge comes in producing this energy source. Splitting apart water molecules would create hydrogen and oxygen. Unfortunately, this current method of hydrogen fuel production is expensive and inefficient.
"There's a catch," Woodbury said. "When you make hydrogen and oxygen, you lose a lot of energy as heat."
To reduce this wasted energy, the researchers are trying to come up with another means to get the hydrogen from water.
"Fortunately, nature has provided us with an example," Woodbury said. Using models of photosynthesis in plants, he hopes to develop a similar protein that would use light to generate a useable form of energy.
By putting peptides, or a short sequence of proteins, on an electrode and then shooting a beam of light through it, researchers believe they could create a stable and more efficiently produced form of energy.
ASU is submitting a proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy to fund the project, asking for money to hire more researchers and buy the necessary equipment.
"It's one thing to have the technology," Woodbury said, "but it's another thing to put it out into the real world ... It's not going to be easy to convince people to buy more for their energy."
He predicted that during the next decade, there would be small-scale use and production of hydrogen fuel to test for any problems before the general population uses it.
It is estimated that within 30 to 50 years, the current fossil fuel supply will be practically gone, Woodbury said.
"One would hope that in 30 years, fossil fuels will be replaced," he added. "Otherwise, we'll be in trouble."
Reach the reporter at katherine.j.krzys@asu.edu.
