Supercharged Sugar

You knew sugar gave you energy. But did you know it can also power a fuel cell?

A group of researchers at Brigham Young University, led by (believe it or not) professor Gerald Watt, great-great-nephew of James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, have built a fuel cell that "harvests electricity from glucose and other sugars known as carbohydrates."

To turn the carbs in sugar and other forms of glucose into energy usable by fuel cells, the researchers needed a catalyst. What the researchers chose was, amazingly, weed killer. Together, this potent pair -- sugar and weed killer -- is 29 percent efficient. Not great, but a good start.

What makes the sugar rush so attractive is, of course, the price. When you consider that hydrogen-based fuel cells like those developed by General Motors use platinum as a catalyst, the advantage of a sugar-and-weed-killer cell is pretty obvious.

And improvements are already in the process. According to an article in Science Daily, "Since they wrote the paper, the researchers' prototype has achieved a doubling of power performance. And they're pursuing an even stronger sugar high."

Will this new type of fuel cell lead to a new type of sugar rush? Only time will tell.

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng