By Alice McFarlane

Researchers convert wheat straw into hydrogen fuel

Dec 2, 2020 | 4:34 PM

MELFORT, Sask. – Scientists are using sunlight to turn straw into something more valuable.

Researchers at the University of Calgary with the help of technology from the Canadian Light Source (CLS) in Saskatoon, Sask. have been looking for an eco-friendly method for turning wheat straw into biochemicals and green hydrogen.

The new approach called photobiorefinery uses solar energy to break down wheat straw and make green hydrogen, a high-value biochemical.

Dr. Jinguang Hu and Dr. Md Golam Kibriahave focused their research on an alternative approach to commonly used petro-refinery.

Producing energy from plant material has been studied for more than four decades. The two most common processes are thermo-chemical and biological, but these methods are carbon-intensive and not economically feasible.

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Dr. Kibriahave said they used the CLS’s Hard X-ray Micro-analysis beamline and compared how pre-treated wheat straw and raw wheat straw reacted in the photorefinery.

“The CLS facility allowed us to see how stable the material was at the start, during, and after photorefining of wheat straw. And, we could see that in real-time, which is a big advantage,” Kibriahave said in a news release.

Their findings showed a phosphoric acid pretreatment resulted in the highest production of green hydrogen and lactic acid, which is typically used for bioplastics and in food, chemical, and medical industries.

“Because biomass captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, we can use this process to take care of the environment and produce chemicals that are economically viable,” he said.

The next steps in the research will be to capture more light and then to scale up the photorefinery with the goal of commercialization.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF