Sentient Labs and MACS-Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) have created a system that directly creates hydrogen from agricultural waste for use in fuel cell-powered vehicles.

Sentient Labs’ vision is to provide technological solutions for the electrification of transportation. It has found constraints in battery technology, fuel cell technology, and hydrogen generating technologies. Several initiatives are underway to develop the building blocks required for sustainable mobility.

This hydrogen generating system makes use of cellulose and hemicellulose-rich agricultural residue, such as rice, wheat, or maize residue. For the direct creation of hydrogen from agricultural leftovers, the technique employs microbial culture. It also produces methane, which is used to generate additional hydrogen via steam methane reformation.

This approach can avoid the burning of bio-mass created in vast quantities in the Indian countryside while producing organic manure and CO2, both of which have applications in a variety of businesses.

Approximately 200 million tons of unutilized agricultural residue are generated in India. This agricultural residue, which is often burned, can be put into this process to generate hydrogen.