Bioenergy: Refueling the Future

Termite Power

     It is a commonly recognized fact that termite eat wood, but did you know that they produce hydrogen?  The lowly termite is capable of cranking out two liters of hydrogen from fermenting just one sheet of paper, making it one of the planet’s most efficient bioreactors!

    Termite achieve this remarkable feat by utilizing the diverse community of bacteria that live in their digestional track.  Normally, organisms cannot eat wood, because the energy in the wood is trapped in complex polymers.  However, these complex polymers can be broken down by fermenting the wood in the termite's gut.  The bacteria break down the polymers into simple sugars for the termite to use and release hydrogen as a byproduct.
     Hydrogen is typically created by using electricity to split hydrogen molecules from water, but the electricity is most often generated using fossil fuels that emit harmful carbon pollutants.
     Research is currently being done to find out which enzyme is responsible for breaking it down.  Once this enzyme is found, then hydrogen can be produced on a mass scale using only biomass!  This hydrogen can be used as biofuel for cars and other hydrogen powered machines. 

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