Congratulations to researchers at Pennsylvania State University who recently announced they have discovered a way to convert cellulose into hydrogen with a 288% return on energy input! This could be a huge development in the move to a hydrogen economy given that splitting natural gas was previously the only economical way to derive hydrogen. Hydrogen sourcing has long been one of the major obstacles to using hydrogen as a clean fuel. And what makes it even sweeter is that unlike ethanol, which is made from glucose (the fruit of plants), this process uses cellulose (the stalks of plants). That leaves our agricultural fruit for eating, unlike ethanol production which consumes food crops (corn, sugar). Sound too good to be true? It's all thanks to bacteria and a little chemistry.