Create green fuel by photosynthesis

Researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) have discovered a way to create hydrogen gas that can be used in cars by mimicking the photosynthesis process of leaves.

Dr Kastoori Hingorani said: 'Water and sunlight are both abundant resources and it will be interesting to use them to safely produce hydrogen at a low cost.'

To do that, the team created a special protein . When exposed to light, it will generate electrical charge that is the key to photosynthesis. In fact, this protein is a version of Ferritin that can be found in almost all living organisms. Dr. said that this is a naturally available protein, the price is affordable, so it is suitable for developing countries.

The common role of Ferritin is to store iron, but researchers removed iron and replaced it with a richer metal, manganese, which closely resembles the process of splitting water in photosynthesis.

Professor Ron Pace, a research participant, said: 'This is the first time we have reproduced the process of collecting energy from sunlight'. He said research would open up new possibilities for hydrogen production as a source of clean and cheap fuel. According to him, a large amount of hydrogen generated by artificial photosynthesis could change the economy.

Hydrogen vehicles are attracting more and more attention from manufacturers who want to market environmentally friendly cars. However, besides infrastructure constraints, hydrogen supply is also a 'difficult problem'. Therefore, if this method is put into mass production, it could create an abundant supply of hydrogen for the car industry.