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Article: SLIME ENERGY.(green algae photosynthesis hydrogen gas research)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science World
- Article date:
- April 10, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Scholastic, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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One day you may tank up your car with gas from pond scum! Plant biologist Tasios Melis at the University of California in Berkeley, hopes to perfect a process to make the green slime churn out limitless, pollution-free hydrogen gas.
Pond scum's main ingredient, green algae, has the unique ability to convert water and sunlight into hydrogen gas. When burned as fuel, hydrogen produces zero pollution--water is its only by-product. But manufacturing hydrogen gas is extremely difficult and costly. "Usually, hydrogen gas is extracted from natural gas in a process that not only generates pollution, but adds to the depletion of our natural gas supply," Melis says.
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