OneOnOne1162 Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 I was wondering if there is any biological organism out there which does or can produce either hydrogen or deuterium. If so, which one? And if possible to answer, how? On that last one I wouldn't mind being directed to a place where I can be informed more extensively like a book or documentary if it's too much to explain in short, though a summary is preferable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cuthber Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 There are certainly bugs that produce hydrogen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biohydrogen#Bacterial_biohydrogen And there are related bugs that produce isotopic enrichment http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/667738 Why do you want to know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneOnOne1162 Posted April 10, 2016 Author Share Posted April 10, 2016 There are certainly bugs that produce hydrogen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biohydrogen#Bacterial_biohydrogen And there are related bugs that produce isotopic enrichment http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/667738 Why do you want to know? I was just curious whether it'd be possible to have biological organisms synthesize hydrogen or deuturium for nuclear fusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharonY Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 As John said, organisms can produce hydrogen but it is quite inefficient compared to other methods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneOnOne1162 Posted April 11, 2016 Author Share Posted April 11, 2016 As John said, organisms can produce hydrogen but it is quite inefficient compared to other methods. How come it's so inefficient? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypervalent_iodine Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 At a guess, the amount of biomass required to make usable amounts would be large and extracting it pure would be energy intensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneOnOne1162 Posted April 11, 2016 Author Share Posted April 11, 2016 At a guess, the amount of biomass required to make usable amounts would be large and extracting it pure would be energy intensive. Well, but what about producing it as a byproduct of a larger "system." You know, as a hypothetical you grow some plant to feed cattle and then you harvest hydrogen from it while it grows or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharonY Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 To run a biogas fermenter you have to expend energy to maintain conditions under which hydrogen is produced even if you just feed it with waste. The overall yield is still so low that it is currently much more economic to use conventional means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cuthber Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Beer isn't a very efficient process for making alcohol. Efficiency isn't always the most important criterion. Being able to brew hydrogen from cow dung might be useful in some circumstances. If you wanted a hydrogen balloon to get you off your deserted island it might be a very useful thing to know about. But if you plan to do fusion, there are more practical ways to get hydrogen, and I doubt you could get much deuterium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneOnOne1162 Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 Beer isn't a very efficient process for making alcohol. Efficiency isn't always the most important criterion. Being able to brew hydrogen from cow dung might be useful in some circumstances. If you wanted a hydrogen balloon to get you off your deserted island it might be a very useful thing to know about. But if you plan to do fusion, there are more practical ways to get hydrogen, and I doubt you could get much deuterium. What makes the process so energy intensive/inefficient? Could that be solved? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now