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Abstract :
[en] The project MICRO-H2 aims to study and exploit the microbial (bacterial and algal) production of hydrogen (H2). In addition to building a competence centre around the H2 production by microorganisms and the molecular monitoring of the processes, this project tries to address two main socio-economic issues. First, transport and many economic activities will be based on hydrogen energy in the near future. Secondly, many researches and technology developments deal with renewable resources. Therefore, a new integrated technology for a sustainable development should be promoted.
Photofermentation and dark-fermentation are the most promising ways to produce biohydrogen. The main advantage of the first process is the complete conversion of substrate, if any, to hydrogen. However, present H2-production rates by microalgae remain low. Therefore, a better understanding of the microalgal hydrogen metabolism and rate improvements by genetic engineering are needed. On the other hand, dark-fermentation achieves at present far higher H2-production rates, but improvements are expected through monitoring and optimisation of bacterial diversity and activity.
The objectives about bacterial H2 production were to increase knowledge, stability potentialities and investigation skills about the consortia of bacteria involved in bioreactors treating wastewater rich in carbohydrates to produce biohydrogen. The project focused mainly on the study of the potentialities of different consortia, with a focus on Clostridium strains. Concerning the microalgal production of H2, the objectives were to increase knowledge on the metabolic interactions that determine H2 evolution at the cellular level and to produce new strains with increased ability for H2 production in the two-stage process.
