Getting hydrogen out of banana peels

(Image: Pixabay CC0) - Scientists at EPFL have developed a way to maximize hydrogen yields from biowaste, within few milliseconds. The method uses rapid photo-pyrolysis to produce hydrogen gas and solid conductive carbon from banana peels. As the world's energy demands increase, so does our consumption of fossil fuels. The result is a massive rise in greenhouse gases emissions with severely adverse environmental effects. To address this, scientists have been searching for alternative, renewable sources of energy. A main candidate is hydrogen produced from organic waste, or -biomass-, of plants and animals. Biomass also absorbs, removes, and stores CO₂ from the atmosphere, while biomass decomposition can also bring us ways to negative emissions or greenhouse gases removal.