VIRGINIA TECH, VIRGINIA, USA. The development of a hydrogen fuel that is produced by extracting hydrogen from any plant is good source of alternative energy. This new process can put an end to man’s dependence on fossil fuels. It will absolutely offer an environmentally friendly and low-cost fuel source worldwide.

Y.H. Percival Zhang and team from Virginia Tech have been working on a non-traditional way in producing a low cost high-yield hydrogen for 7 years already. The team tapped on xylose which is the most abundant simple plant sugar that is found in most edible plants. They used xylose to produce a large amount of hydrogen. Their method can be utilized with the use of any source of biomass.

The team extricated high-purity hyrdrogen under mild reaction conditions. In this case, at 50 degree Celsius or 122 degree Fahrenheit and in normal atmospheric pressure. Then they used a group of enzymes that are artificially isolated from different microorganisms that thrive in high-temperature in order to release the hydrogen.

Nowadays, natural gas is the most common source in producing hydrogen. This process is very costly and produces a huge amount of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. The only byproduct of this new hydrogen fuel process is water. We are currently dealing with a $100 billion market that will soon be affected by this affordable green technology.