In a major breakthrough in sustainable energy research, scientists at Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) have developed an innovative method for producing green hydrogen using sugarcane biomass waste and a newly isolated bacterial strain.
The pioneering research, conducted at Biomolecular Engineering Laboratory of the School of Biochemical Engineering, has been published in leading international journals, including International Journal of Hydrogen Energy and Fuel.
According to Prof Abha Mishra, lead investigator and in charge of the laboratory, as well as associate dean (research and development) at IIT (BHU), the development has positioned the institute at the forefront of global biohydrogen innovation.
The research team isolated successfully a novel hydrogen-producing bacterial strain, alcaligenes ammonioxydans SRAM, from sewage sludge wastewater. The strain demonstrated exceptional efficiency in converting sugarcane bagasse-an abundant agricultural waste in India’s largest sugarcane-producing state, UP-into hydrogen gas.
“The strain showed excellent potential for large-scale application. It serves as an efficient biocatalyst capable of transforming lignocellulosic biomass into clean energy,” said Prof. Mishra.
The bacterium, now officially registered in the NCBI GenBank, produces hydrogen through dark fermentation-a low-energy, anaerobic process that offers both economic and environmental benefits.
Alongside hydrogen, the bacterium also showed potential for producing eco-friendly biopolymers, opening avenues for sustainable material development. A patent application has been filed to secure the intellectual property of the innovation. To optimise the hydrogen yield, the team employed advanced computational tools such as ANN-MATLAB and Python-based modelling. These tools helped fine-tune key parameters, enhancing reproducibility and efficiency of the process.
