Prolonged hydrogen production by engineered green algae photovoltaic power stations

I recall an interesting day at the Scottish Academy of Marines Sciences looking at various tanks full of Algae.  It’s nice to share this paper with the community 

Prolonged hydrogen production by engineered green algae photovoltaic power stations

Interest in securing energy production channels from renewable sources is higher than ever due to the daily observation of the impacts of climate change. A key renewable energy harvesting strategy achieving carbon neutral cycles is artificial photosynthesis. Solar-to-fuel routes thus far relied on elaborately crafted semiconductors, undermining the cost-efficiency of the system. Furthermore, fuels produced required separation prior to utilization. As an artificial photosynthesis design, here we demonstrate the conversion of swimming green algae into photovoltaic power stations. The engineered algae exhibit bioelectrogenesis, en route to energy storage in hydrogen. Notably, fuel formation requires no additives or external bias other than CO₂ and sunlight. The cellular power stations autoregulate the oxygen level during artificial photosynthesis, granting immediate utility of the photosynthetic hydrogen without separation. The fuel production scales linearly with the reactor volume, which is a necessary trait for contributing to the large-scale renewable energy portfolio.

….Site power stations capable of solar-tohydrogen energy storage. Prolonged hydrogen production was demonstrated with CO2 and sunlight as the only input, rendering this system one of the most advanced artificial photosynthesis schemes to date

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