[HN Gopher] Scientists find enzyme that can make electricity out...
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       Scientists find enzyme that can make electricity out of tiny
       amounts of hydrogen
        
       Author : fagnerbrack
       Score  : 44 points
       Date   : 2023-05-11 15:55 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.abc.net.au)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.abc.net.au)
        
       | congoe wrote:
       | Enzymes are much too unstable and expensive to ever make sense in
       | electricity production, especially when compared to inorganic
       | solutions like PV.
       | 
       | The other way around is more sensible though, using electricity
       | to produce hydrogen (Enzymatic electrolysis cells, EFCs), for
       | example from distillery wastewater.
        
         | gmt2027 wrote:
         | If the enzyme is produced by genetically altered microbes like
         | bacteria or yeast, wouldn't that make it practically useful on
         | some scale?
        
           | messe wrote:
           | Not necessarily. Where do they get the energy to produce that
           | enzyme?
           | 
           | Is it more efficient than having them convert sugars to
           | alcohol and burning it?
        
           | congoe wrote:
           | Yes, that drives cost down but even on the biggest scale,
           | like insulin, enzymes are still orders of magnitude more
           | expensive than inorganic catalysts (e.g. platinum for
           | hydrogen fuel cells)
        
         | burnished wrote:
         | Why one way but not the other - just that pouring power onto
         | the grid requires cooperation but producing hydrogen doesn't,
         | or is there something more fundamental at play?
        
           | congoe wrote:
           | The fundamental principle would be that enzymes have an
           | comparative advantage when utilising and producing complex
           | organic molecules as fuel for hydrogen production (such as
           | glucose in wastewater) while inorganic catalysts are cheaper,
           | more stable but limited to simple reactions
        
             | burnished wrote:
             | Thank you!
        
       | ianai wrote:
       | Think ways to create incredibly small amounts of energy just
       | about anywhere. Useful for a smart tag on a box of milk (their
       | example). But they did say they would love if it were possible to
       | scale up and point out that being a big reach. But then plenty of
       | big reaches have been made so I would suggest not considering
       | that impossible.
       | 
       | Also, this is created by a soil bacteria.
        
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       (page generated 2023-05-11 23:01 UTC)