Bio-hydrogen production from carbon monoxide by microbial water-gas shift reaction of the hyperthermophilic archaeon

摘要

Hydrogen (H2) is attracting widespread attention as a promising fuel because it is not only an efficient energy carrier with high energy content per unit mass (122 kJ g~(-1)) but also the environmentally cleanest fuel [1]. However, H2 is currently produced mostly by thermo-chemical processes of fossil fuels such as natural gas, crude oil and coal. These processes are considered to be energy intensive and environmentally unfriendly [2]. Therefore, the demand for biological H2 production has been increasing over the past decades.