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| Joined: | Mon Nov 21st, 2005 |
| Location: | California USA |
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The efficiency was rather impressive. At slower flow rates, the total energy content of the hydrogen was 36 percent of the energy input into the system in the form of acetate. At this flow rate, about 85 percent of the energy stored in the hydrogen came from the salt-fresh water difference. The bacteria took the remainder of the energy from the acetate, using it for their continued survival and growth. Pumping water through the system only accounted for about one percent of the energy cost. The bad news is that this highly efficient system requires an expensive, platinum-based cathode. The authors showed that it’s possible to use a cheaper, Molybdenum-based cathode, but efficiencies dropped. The authors suggest that it might be possible to find a cheap material that works well with this system but, as of their publication, they’ve not identified one.