What is it about?
‘Renewable feedstocks’ are sources of fuel that can be quickly regrown or reproduced. Examples include food waste, materials left over from farming or forestry, or specially grown ‘energy crops’. These all produce low levels of greenhouse gases so they are considered ‘low carbon’. They can help us stop using fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. This project used food and water waste to produce ‘biohydrogen’ (bioH2 or H2). It only took 48 hours to produce the biohydrogen from the feedstock. Biohydrogen can be used as a clean fuel.
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Why is it important?
This study showed that we can turn food waste into fuel. It also showed that it is better for the environment to make biohydrogen from food waste than to make it from scratch. This sort of process will help us reduce carbon emissions. Reusing waste also helps us reduce our use of natural resources. KEY TAKEAWAY: Scientists have found an economical approach to generating clean biofuels in an environmentally friendly manner.
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This page is a summary of: Low carbon hydrogen production from a waste-based biorefinery system and environmental sustainability assessment, Green Chemistry, January 2021, Royal Society of Chemistry, DOI: 10.1039/d0gc03063e.
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Resources
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As we try to reduce our use of fossil fuels, we need to find other fuels that can be produced with less damage to the environment. This sort of project is helping us work out the most efficient – and therefore least damaging – way to make hydrogen fuel.
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