Confectionery production units produce huge amount of wastes just to add to environment pollution. Scientists from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council have gone innovative with these wastes – they have successfully produced hydrogen from the waste to generate electricity.
To power a fuel cell, the feasibility study used waste rich with sugar and generated from a Cadbury’s factory. To produce usable amount of hydrogen, E. coli bacteria is used in a five-litre vessel of nougat and caramel production run-off. With the help of these bacteria, the generated run-off is fermented.
Project leader Lynne Macaskie of Birmingham University said,
Although only at its initial stages, we’ve demonstrated a hydrogen-producing, waste-reducing technology that, for example, might be scaled up in five to 10 years time for industrial electricity generation and waste treatment.
Via: The Register
