Team:NRP-UEA-Norwich
BioWire
NRP-UEA Norwich
The Problem
Global climate change and fuel poverty are some of the biggest challenges facing energy production today. Using renewable energy sources to increase global energy production in a sustainable way is therefore vital. However, current technologies have many problems with cost, for example those stemming from intermittency. Go to the background page under project for more information.
The Solution
To reduce the energy wasted from intermittency problems with renewable energy sources (such as wind and solar) there has been a lot of research focusing on trying to convert this energy into hydrogen to be stored and used later. Biowire’s project uses synthetic biology techniques to engineer the bacterium Shewanella oneidensis. This bacterium has a ‘nanowire’ which can channel electrons into the cell and to the hydrogenase enzymes which can then produce hydrogen.
The Goals
The overall aim of Biowire’s project is to explore the possibility of using S. oneidensis as an energy storage system. By trying to increase the hydrogen output of S. oneidensis in comparison to the wild type, we are hoping to make this hydrogen production system a more attractive and efficient bioenergy solution to the challenges facing energy production.
Global climate change and fuel poverty are some of the biggest challenges facing energy production today. Using renewable energy sources to increase global energy production in a sustainable way is therefore vital. However, current technologies have many problems with cost, for example those stemming from intermittency. Go to the background page under project for more information.
The SolutionTo reduce the energy wasted from intermittency problems with renewable energy sources (such as wind and solar) there has been a lot of research focusing on trying to convert this energy into hydrogen to be stored and used later. Biowire’s project uses synthetic biology techniques to engineer the bacterium Shewanella oneidensis. This bacterium has a ‘nanowire’ which can channel electrons into the cell and to the hydrogenase enzymes which can then produce hydrogen.
The GoalsThe overall aim of Biowire’s project is to explore the possibility of using S. oneidensis as an energy storage system. By trying to increase the hydrogen output of S. oneidensis in comparison to the wild type, we are hoping to make this hydrogen production system a more attractive and efficient bioenergy solution to the challenges facing energy production.
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