The Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation has awarded €9.2 million in grants to ten projects in technology, other scientific fields, and culture, including projects by IBC Members Aalto University, University of Eastern Finland, Tampere University, and Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).
The BioBattery 1.0 project lead by Assistant Professor Rahul Mangayil (Aalto University and Professor Ville Santala (Tampere University) addresses one of the main challenges in using hydrogen (H2) as an energy carrier: Developing a scalable, and sustainable method for its storage and release. This Proof-of-Concept project proposes a novel cell-free enzymatic approach to store H2 in a stable liquid form and release it on demand, bypassing the limitations of current physical, chemical, and biological methods.