by Researchers at UPEI are looking for new ways to produce hydrogen to replace fossil fuels and combat the effects of climate change.
One project is working to extract hydrogen from waste products, including sawdust, potato peelings and an invasive aquatic species called a tunicate.
There is a lot of interest in the idea of the potato, coming from a province famous for its spuds.
Yulin Hu is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering at UPEI.
Moving to PEI inspired Hu to search for local waste products, including potatoes and tunicates, an invasive species that disrupts the island’s mussel industry. (Shane Hennessey/CBC)
“I always feel that climate challenge is a big issue, and most of the CO2 emissions come from fossil fuels,” Hu said.
“But fossil fuels are used a lot in our daily life. So one of the solutions for us is if we could use some of the low waste biomass from our daily life, and then be able to use the products made from the fossil fuel replacement.”
Potato waste
Moving to PEI inspired Hu to search for local waste products, including potatoes and tunicates, an invasive species that disrupts the island’s mussel industry.
“I started to realize that the potato industry is a very big part of the province, and when you’re processing the potato you’re going to generate a lot of waste,” said Hu.
“So, we started doing the simulation of using the potato waste to produce the hydrogen. And the simulation results can tell us that the potato waste is really promising.”
Hu said the project received funding of $142,500 over five years in the form of a discovery grant from the Natural Science and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC).
That will fund a transition from simulation to building a machine that will test the potato waste as a fuel source, Hu said. They are ordering the equipment for the laboratory, and hope to do the first test sometime next year.
At Cavendish Farms, bacteria in the digesters break down the carbon in the potato waste. Biogas is one of the byproducts that feed the boilers in the company’s fry processing facility nearby. (Pat Martel/CBC)
Hu said that Cavendish Farms in New Annan, PEI, has been converting potato waste into biogas for more than a decade to fuel the frying facility, but the process it uses will be different, as the hydrogen can be used to many different ways.
“I think it is more adapted to our PEI than the hydrogen that we could use to synthesize nitrogen fertilizers, and then help the agricultural industry here,” said Hu.
“We know that a lot of carbon emissions come from transport. So hydrogen could be used as a fuel in the car which could significantly reduce the carbon emissions generated by the transport sector.”
Another project is looking at using sawdust to capture carbon dioxide. (Shane Hennessey/CBC)
Hu said there are a few other projects using waste products found on the island.
“One ongoing project in my lab is converting sawdust into a CO2 absorber,” Hu said.
“Another project is to synthesize tunicate waste. Tunicate is a problem [faced] at our mussel industry on PEI So we take the tunicate waste and we biofertilize it.”
We are trying to convert all types of organic waste, especially with a focus on PEI
— Yulin Hu, UPEI Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering
“So in general we are trying to convert all different types of organic waste, especially with a focus on PEI, and then convert it into a product that can benefit the province.”
UV light
Nasim Mia is a master’s student in the engineering program and a graduate research assistant since January 2023.
His background is in electrical engineering, working on solar projects, and he is now working on solar powered hydrogen generation.
According to Hu, Mia’s research project is funded by $60,000 from AKA Energy System and Mitacs for two years, and $70,000 from the PEI Climate Challenge Fund for one year.
Nasim Mia is a master’s student in the engineering program and a graduate research assistant from January 2023. (Shane Hennessey/CBC )
Mia said the goal of the project is to use UV light to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.
“In the last few months, we have some hydrogen, actually we have some gas. So we have to quantify how much hydrogen,” he said.
“So next year, June to September, we expect … the actual quantities of our gas production.”
The goal of Mia’s project is to use UV light to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. (Shane Hennessey/CBC)
Mia said climate change is also contributing to his research.
“The things that have informed us the most are looking for alternative fuels for our future generations, and the other thing is the carbon emissions, which harm our environment,” said Mia.
“So these are the two things that really motivated us to work on green energy, so that we can find the alternative fuel sources.”
