UK team harvests hydrogen from grass. / Nel Regno Unito un gruppo ricava idrogeno da erba. Segnalato dal Dott. Giuseppe Cotellesa / Reported by Dr. Joseph Cotellessa (Credit: Matt Lavin via CC) Researchers from Cardiff University and Queen’s University Belfast have discovered a cheap method to extract significant amounts hydrogen from grass, opening up possibilities for sustainable clean energy. The technique, described in the Royal Society journal Proceedings A , involves converting cellulose in grass into hydrogen using sunlight and metal-loaded titania photocatalysts (palladium, gold and nickel). Cellulose is a key building block for plants and the most abundant biopolymer on Earth, as well as being a plentiful source of hydrogen. Initially, the team combined the three catalysts with cellulose in a round bottom flask and subjected the mixture to light from a desk lamp, measuring the amount of hydrogen produced at 30-minute intervals. “This rea