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Renewable fuels

Harnessing hydrogen

Nature volume 418, pages 928–929 (2002)Cite this article

Biomass can produce clean fuels and could be a vital, renewable energy source for the future. The demonstration of hydrogen production from biomass-derived molecules marks progress towards this goal.

Fossil-fuel stocks are a limited resource and, as the world's governments struggle to agree on a strategy to combat pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions, the search for clean, renewable energy sources has never been more intense. On page 964 of this issue, Cortright et al.1 provide experimental evidence that simple biomass-derived molecules, such as glucose and glycerol, can be treated to produce hydrogen with reasonable efficiency. The authors suggest that, with some additional effort, their technique could also be technologically and commercially viable.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, 80401, Colorado, USA

    Esteban Chornet & Stefan Czernik

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, J1L 1H3, Canada

    Esteban Chornet & Stefan Czernik

Authors
  1. Esteban Chornet
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  2. Stefan Czernik
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Correspondence to Esteban Chornet.

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Chornet, E., Czernik, S. Harnessing hydrogen. Nature 418, 928–929 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/418928a

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