Hydrogen fuel breakthrough lets researchers extract gas from any plant

via theverge.com

Researchers at Virginia Tech have successfully extracted large amounts of hydrogen from plants, a promising discovery that could help bring hydrogen closer to the environmentally-friendly fuel source many are hoping it can be. Y.H. Percival Zhang and his team accomplished this through the use of xylose, the second most prevalent sugar in plants. "Our new process could help end our dependence on fossil fuels," Zhang said of the finding. Hydrogen energy has the potential to become a booming industry, but as Forbes points out, logistical challenges have hindered its progression into a low-cost, widely available power source.

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Teenage girl creates sustainable, renewable algae biofuel under her bed

via extremetech.com

In what is essentially a fancy science fair sponsored by Intel, over 1,700 high school seniors enter projects each year in order to not only be crowned the country’s youngest mad scientists, but have a chance to win $100,000. This year, Sara Volz claimed that crown and a $100,000 four-year scholarship, thanks to her efficient algae-based biofuel lab — that she created under her bed.

The Science Talent Search has been running for 70 years, and Intel hopped on board as the sponsor back in 1998. Since the competition’s beginning, seven participants have won the Nobel Prize, and 11 have won MacArthur Foundation Genius grants. So, the competition has a bit of pedigree. Up to 30 finalists receive a monetary scholarship, with first place bringing home $100,000, second place bringing home $75,000, and third place raking in $50,000. This year, 17-year-old Colorado Springs student Sara Volz took explored if algae can become an economically viable form of biofuel. Like any good high school or college project, she developed the majority of the system in her room, under her loft bed.

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