Researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, and international collaborators have developed a solar-driven process to convert glycerol, a by-product of biodiesel production, into hydrogen and valuable industrial chemicals, reported Mirage News.
The study, published in Applied Catalysis B: Environment and Energy, uses a process called photoreforming, which harnesses light energy to generate hydrogen while converting organic feedstocks into useful products.
UNSW researcher Dr Denny Gunawan said the technology could generate renewable hydrogen while extracting greater economic value from crude glycerol, which is produced in large quantities by the biodiesel industry and has relatively low market value.
The findings could support the development of more efficient solar-driven technologies that combine renewable hydrogen production with the manufacture of valuable chemicals from biomass-derived waste.
