Hi,

I'm a Chemical Engineering PhD student studying the production of Hydrogen from Termites, and wanted to share a video on my journey. And don't worry, the Hydrogen is produced naturally, and the Termites aren't

!

Moderator Note

Posting videos without discussion is against our rules.

 

2 hours ago, TermiteHydrogen said:

Hi,

I'm a Chemical Engineering PhD student studying the production of Hydrogen from Termites, and wanted to share a video on my journey. And don't worry, the Hydrogen is produced naturally, and the Termites aren't

And the termites aren't what?  Forming a labor union?  

3 hours ago, TheVat said:

And the termites aren't what?  Forming a labor union?  

…produced naturally?

Methane is also produced naturally and for some reasons we still worry about it...

4 hours ago, TheVat said:

And the termites aren't what?

...chemical engineers.

Whilst not a Greenhouse Gas and displacing fossil fuel use with renewable Hydrogen will reduce global warming raising atmospheric Hydrogen concentrations slows the decay of methane, which undoes some of the gains.

One thing to breed or genetically modify termites (or - seems more likely to me - their accompanying micro biota) to produce more Hydrogen, another thing to harvest and use the H2 cost effectively. Low cost enough that it's use will displace fossil fuel use is a major step that other ways of making Hydrogen have not done successfully; much of that due to the storage and transport difficulties. Adding in the requirements for the termite farms to be inside airtight facilities, for a means of extracting H2 from the air, for a supply of biomass to feed them - all the while maintaining an ideal (termite healthy) air mix and temperatures - makes it extraordinarily challenging. How do the costs compare to dedicated solar, wind, storage powered electrolysis? Meanwhile battery EV's are beating Hydrogen EV's by thousands to one, in part because there are electricity grids EV's are able to take advantage of. With Hydrogen the infrastructure for widespread use does not exist and has to be built from zero.

I am cynical enough to think most of the leaders of industries that insist that Hydrogen will be best don't actually believe that themselves. Their Hydrogen efforts so far seem to work better as evidence that low emissions is too hard and expensive than as viable decarbonising.

52 minutes ago, Emma Brown said:

Yes, termites can produce hydrogen, and researchers are exploring this as a potential climate change solution.

Termites have gut microbes that break down cellulose and release hydrogen as a byproduct. This natural process could inspire biohydrogen production technologies—offering a clean, renewable fuel alternative. While still in research stages, it shows promising potential for sustainable energy innovation.

Not all microbes in the termite gut produce hydrogen. Specific microbial groups (such as certain fermentative bacteria and protists) are responsible for breaking down cellulose, and some of these produce hydrogen as a metabolic byproduct. Other microbes, like methanogens, may consume that hydrogen.

On 3/21/2025 at 11:43 AM, TheVat said:

And the termites aren't what?  Forming a labor union?  

Warring with random ant species?

On 3/21/2025 at 9:02 AM, TermiteHydrogen said:

and the Termites aren't

Massacring a random colony of African weaver ants

On 3/21/2025 at 5:02 PM, TermiteHydrogen said:

I'm a Chemical Engineering PhD student studying the production of Hydrogen from Termites, and wanted to share a video on my journey. And don't worry, the Hydrogen is produced naturally, and the Termites aren't

I have to warn you. I am producing Hydrogen too. Swansant too. Studiot too. OMG. TheVat too. And Charon too..

18 minutes ago, Moleculogic said:

That’s wild—do termites really produce enough hydrogen to make it scalable?

Methinks that to make a facepalm, it would be enough..