'Since the new strain has fewer light-harvesting proteins, it is a lighter green than the natural one, which also helps light to penetrate deeper into the bioreactor. The engineered algae are more resistant to light damage than natural strains,' ABC online quoted Prof. Hankamer, as saying.
He said, the findings were significant, as it meant that given the same amount of light, the algae would survive longer and reproduce more, thus possibly generating more hydrogen gas.
As of now, Prof. Hankamer and his colleagues have already patented a strain of the algae that is more efficient at converting captured sunlight into hydrogen gas.
The next step, he said, would be to improve the light-capturing efficiency of this strain.
'We have to improve the efficiency of the process in order to make it economically viable,' said Prof. Hankamer.
Source-ANI
VEN /J