Partners 20-Fueling America

The Power of Green

**Narrator**

As our country searches for fuel alternatives to gasoline, new sources
never considered before are emerging. Take, for instance, the innovative
pilot project at AC Transit - a San Francisco Bay transportation
provider.

**Doug Byrne-AT Transit**

*One thing you will notice it is very smooth operating. No shifting from
the transmission and very little acceleration. So it does very well-
very controllable and it has nice ride to it* .

**Narrator**

Doug Byrne is driving one of AC Transit's fleet cars. It uses hydrogen
gas as fuel, which is converted to electricity to power the car. The
result? An efficient, quiet running, non- polluting vehicle.

**Doug Byrne**

*We average about 120 miles per day on each vehicle. Our estimation is
between 45 to 50 miles per gallon. They are doing very well.*

**Narrator**

In addition, the company runs three hydrogen-powered buses for public
transportation. The response to date from both customers and drivers has
been favorable.

**Doug Byrne**

*Here we have a Kia fuel cell powered car.*

**Narrator**

But hydrogen's biggest hurdle is the cost of its fuel cell technology. 
These cells that convert the gas's energy to electricity are extremely
expensive. One AC Transit bus costs a million dollars. Until the price
point changes, hydrogen for Fueling America will remain a concept,
rather than a solution.

But even with cheaper fuel cells, one significant problem remains.

**Anastasios Melis -- University of California-Berkeley**

*The bulk of the hydrogen is produced upon reformation of natural gases
which is reformation of methane as a source of hydrogen. This is fine,
but it generates carbon dioxide as a bi-product, which is one of the
gases that causes global warming.* T*he other draw back, of course, is
natural gas is not going to last forever. I think our society
understands nowadays that we need to generate a source of hydrogen that
is renewable.*

**Narrator**

Anatasios Melis thinks the solution may be here.

**Anastasios Melis**

*This is a variety of green algae. The advantages is that it grow very
fast - faster than any other plant we know of- about 10 times faster
that corn. We are talking about green power*.

**Narrator**

The single-celled algae, called *Chlamydomonas*, conducts photosynthesis
just like any normal, green land plant. But Melis figured out a way to
trick green algae into producing hydrogen. He discovered that when the
algae is deprived of sulfur and is still exposed to the sunlight, it
produces an enzyme called *hydrogenase*. This enzyme spurs the release
of hydrogen gas. And it does it in a big way.

**Anastasios Melis**

*In the lab we get them to double there biomass every 4 or 5 hours under
mass culture conditions. Seventy to eighty percent of the cell volume is
occupied by the chloroplast. The chloroplast is where photosynthesis
takes place. So these are, in fact, factories for photosynthesis. That
is how they are able to multiply with enormous rates, and under natural
sunlight it has been reported that they multiply or they double their
biomass on a daily basis.*

**Narrator**

To test this idea and to prove that the algae could generate substantial
volumes of hydrogen. Melis and his team went outside. They built a large
plastic tube known as a photobiotic reactor, filled it with 1000 liters
of water, and added the green algae with fertilizer to stimulate its
growth.

**Anastasios Melis**

*Within 5 or 6 days, the medium became very dark green as the algae
multiplied very quickly under the bright sunlight and we where able to
collect buckets full of hydrogen. You can imagine the 1000 liter reactor
produced 1000 times more hydrogen then we get right here in the
laboratory.*

**Narrator**

CSREES funds have allowed the University of California-Berkeley team to
prove the potential of hydrogen production from algae. The challenge now
is to tap its full potential -- to exploit the power of green.

**Anastasios Melis**

*The problem we have before us right now is that the yield of the
process is not as high as it could be. So, for example, we know the
capacity of these green algae to produce hydrogen. We find that it is
only 10 to 15% of the theoretical maximum. That means that there is a
lot of work for us to do. I do not know if we will ever be able to go to
the 100% level. But lets try to reach say 50% or 60%* . *These are the
hurdles that we have before us nowadays.*

**Narrator**

Once the project reaches that goal, places like AC Transit may change
where they get the hydrogen from. Currently, they are involved in a
joint project with Chevron Oil and produce the hydrogen on site at their
Oakland, California headquarters. But beyond the world of
transportation, Anastasios Melis sees his research benefiting a new kind
of farmer.

**Anastasios Melis**

*I think it is a form of modified agriculture - the growth of an
organism through photosynthesis. In this case, it's hydrogen. It is a
bio-fuel. It is not a traditional crop that we normally have. It is the
crop of the future and I think it is absolutely essential to permit us
to continue our civilization and to drive elements of our society and
our economy as we know it today. We are converting the energy of
sunlight into biofuel* . *I think it is going to help not only this
country but all countries around the globe to meet their basic energy
needs*