IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v4y2011i2p254-275d11198.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Renewable Hydrogen Carrier — Carbohydrate: Constructing the Carbon-Neutral Carbohydrate Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Y.-H. Percival Zhang

    (Biological Systems Engineering Department, 210-A Seitz Hall, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
    Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Sciences (ICTAS) Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
    DOE BioEnergy Science Center (BESC), Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
    Gate Fuels Inc. 3107 Alice Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA)

  • Jonathan R. Mielenz

    (DOE BioEnergy Science Center (BESC), Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
    Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA)

Abstract

The hydrogen economy presents an appealing energy future but its implementation must solve numerous problems ranging from low-cost sustainable production, high-density storage, costly infrastructure, to eliminating safety concern. The use of renewable carbohydrate as a high-density hydrogen carrier and energy source for hydrogen production is possible due to emerging cell-free synthetic biology technology—cell-free synthetic pathway biotransformation (SyPaB). Assembly of numerous enzymes and co-enzymes in vitro can create complicated set of biological reactions or pathways that microorganisms or catalysts cannot complete, for example, C 6 H 10 O 5 (aq) + 7 H 2 O (l) à 12 H 2 (g) + 6 CO 2 (g) (PLoS One 2007, 2:e456). Thanks to 100% selectivity of enzymes, modest reaction conditions, and high-purity of generated hydrogen, carbohydrate is a promising hydrogen carrier for end users. Gravimetric density of carbohydrate is 14.8 H 2 mass% if water can be recycled from proton exchange membrane fuel cells or 8.33% H 2 mass% without water recycling. Renewable carbohydrate can be isolated from plant biomass or would be produced from a combination of solar electricity/hydrogen and carbon dioxide fixation mediated by high-efficiency artificial photosynthesis mediated by SyPaB. The construction of this carbon-neutral carbohydrate economy would address numerous sustainability challenges, such as electricity and hydrogen storage, CO 2 fixation and long-term storage, water conservation, transportation fuel production, plus feed and food production.

Suggested Citation

  • Y.-H. Percival Zhang & Jonathan R. Mielenz, 2011. "Renewable Hydrogen Carrier — Carbohydrate: Constructing the Carbon-Neutral Carbohydrate Economy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 4(2), pages 1-22, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:4:y:2011:i:2:p:254-275:d:11198
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/4/2/254/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/4/2/254/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. R. D. Cortright & R. R. Davda & J. A. Dumesic, 2002. "Hydrogen from catalytic reforming of biomass-derived hydrocarbons in liquid water," Nature, Nature, vol. 418(6901), pages 964-967, August.
    2. Hermann, Weston A., 2006. "Quantifying global exergy resources," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(12), pages 1685-1702.
    3. Robert A. Berner, 2003. "The long-term carbon cycle, fossil fuels and atmospheric composition," Nature, Nature, vol. 426(6964), pages 323-326, November.
    4. Mike Hightower & Suzanne A. Pierce, 2008. "The energy challenge," Nature, Nature, vol. 452(7185), pages 285-286, March.
    5. Frances H. Arnold, 2001. "Combinatorial and computational challenges for biocatalyst design," Nature, Nature, vol. 409(6817), pages 253-257, January.
    6. Gerard Deckert & Patrick V. Warren & Terry Gaasterland & William G. Young & Anna L. Lenox & David E. Graham & Ross Overbeek & Marjory A. Snead & Martin Keller & Monette Aujay & Robert Huber & Robert A, 1998. "The complete genome of the hyperthermophilic bacterium Aquifex aeolicus," Nature, Nature, vol. 392(6674), pages 353-358, March.
    7. Karen E. Nelson & Rebecca A. Clayton & Steven R. Gill & Michelle L. Gwinn & Robert J. Dodson & Daniel H. Haft & Erin K. Hickey & Jeremy D. Peterson & William C. Nelson & Karen A. Ketchum & Lisa McDona, 1999. "Evidence for lateral gene transfer between Archaea and Bacteria from genome sequence of Thermotoga maritima," Nature, Nature, vol. 399(6734), pages 323-329, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Luis Fernando Morelos Medina & Rufino Nava & María de los Ángeles Cuán Hernández & Omar Said Yáñez Soria & Bárbara Pawelec & Rufino M. Navarro & Carlos Elías Ornelas Gutiérrez, 2020. "Structural, Optical and Photocatalytic Characterization of Zn x Cd 1−x S Solid Solutions Synthetized Using a Simple Ultrasonic Radiation Method," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-20, October.
    2. Zhao, Bin, 2017. "Why will dominant alternative transportation fuels be liquid fuels, not electricity or hydrogen?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 712-714.
    3. Elmer, Theo & Worall, Mark & Wu, Shenyi & Riffat, Saffa B., 2015. "Fuel cell technology for domestic built environment applications: State of-the-art review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 913-931.
    4. Phan Anh Duong & Bo Rim Ryu & Mi Kyoung Song & Hong Van Nguyen & Dong Nam & Hokeun Kang, 2023. "Safety Assessment of the Ammonia Bunkering Process in the Maritime Sector: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-30, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mahtta, Richa & Joshi, P.K. & Jindal, Alok Kumar, 2014. "Solar power potential mapping in India using remote sensing inputs and environmental parameters," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 255-262.
    2. Valero, Antonio & Agudelo, Andrés & Valero, Alicia, 2011. "The crepuscular planet. A model for the exhausted atmosphere and hydrosphere," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 3745-3753.
    3. Mashhadikhan, Samaneh & Ahmadi, Reyhane & Ebadi Amooghin, Abtin & Sanaeepur, Hamidreza & Aminabhavi, Tejraj M. & Rezakazemi, Mashallah, 2024. "Breaking temperature barrier: Highly thermally heat resistant polymeric membranes for sustainable water and wastewater treatment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PA).
    4. Foster, John & Bell, William Paul & Wild, Phillip & Sharma, Deepak & Sandu, Suwin & Froome, Craig & Wagner, Liam & Misra, Suchi & Bagia, Ravindra, 2013. "Analysis of institutional adaptability to redress electricity infrastructure vulnerability due to climate change," MPRA Paper 47787, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Fernanda Guedes & Alexandre Szklo & Pedro Rochedo & Frédéric Lantz & Leticia Magalar & Eveline Maria Vásquez Arroyo, 2018. "Climate-Energy-Water Nexus in Brazilian Oil Refineries," Working Papers hal-03188594, HAL.
    6. Yevheniia Ziabina & Tetyana Pimonenko, 2020. "The Green Deal Policy for Renewable Energy: A Bibliometric Analysis," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 3(4), pages 147-168, October.
    7. Stephen G. Wiedemann & Quan V. Nguyen & Simon J. Clarke, 2022. "Using LCA and Circularity Indicators to Measure the Sustainability of Textiles—Examples of Renewable and Non-Renewable Fibres," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-14, December.
    8. Jin, Gong & Iwaki, Hiroyuki & Arai, Norio & Kitagawa, Kuniyuki, 2005. "Study on the gasification of wastepaper/carbon dioxide catalyzed by molten carbonate salts," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 1192-1203.
    9. Rio Carrillo, Anna Mercè & Frei, Christoph, 2009. "Water: A key resource in energy production," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 4303-4312, November.
    10. Chen, Zi-yue & Huang, Zhen-hai & Nie, Pu-yan, 2018. "Industrial characteristics and consumption efficiency from a nexus perspective – Based on Anhui’s Empirical Statistics," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 281-290.
    11. Hepbasli, Arif & Alsuhaibani, Zeyad, 2011. "Exergetic and exergoeconomic aspects of wind energy systems in achieving sustainable development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 2810-2825, August.
    12. Hermann, Weston A., 2006. "Quantifying global exergy resources," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(12), pages 1685-1702.
    13. Golberg, Alexander, 2015. "Environmental exergonomics for sustainable design and analysis of energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 314-321.
    14. Feng, Junfeng & Yang, Zhongzhi & Hse, Chung-yun & Su, Qiuli & Wang, Kui & Jiang, Jianchun & Xu, Junming, 2017. "In situ catalytic hydrogenation of model compounds and biomass-derived phenolic compounds for bio-oil upgrading," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 140-148.
    15. Dupont, Elise & Koppelaar, Rembrandt & Jeanmart, Hervé, 2018. "Global available wind energy with physical and energy return on investment constraints," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 322-338.
    16. Sauer, Timm & Havlik, Petr & Schneider, Uwe A. & Kindermann, Georg E. & Obersteiner, Michael, 2008. "Agriculture, Population, Land and Water Scarcity in a Changing World – The Role of Irrigation," 2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium 44271, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    17. Wu, X.D. & Chen, G.Q., 2017. "Energy and water nexus in power generation: The surprisingly high amount of industrial water use induced by solar power infrastructure in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 125-136.
    18. Meryemoğlu, Bahar & Hasanoğlu, Arif & Kaya, Burçak & Irmak, Sibel & Erbatur, Oktay, 2014. "Hydrogen production from aqueous-phase reforming of sorghum biomass: An application of the response surface methodology," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 535-541.
    19. Saba, N. & Jawaid, M. & Hakeem, K.R. & Paridah, M.T. & Khalina, A. & Alothman, O.Y., 2015. "Potential of bioenergy production from industrial kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) based on Malaysian perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 446-459.
    20. Wu, X.D. & Ji, Xi & Li, Chaohui & Xia, X.H. & Chen, G.Q., 2019. "Water footprint of thermal power in China: Implications from the high amount of industrial water use by plant infrastructure of coal-fired generation system," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 452-461.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:4:y:2011:i:2:p:254-275:d:11198. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.