This topic will be presented by Nick Fowler, a Biophysics PhD student at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology.

In Nick’s own words: “Nature has had billions of years to evolve the various life processes that constitute life. As a result, these processes are very sophisticated. For example, consider photosynthesis. Photosynthesis exploits quantum mechanics to convert sunlight into energy, at ambient temperatures, extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and with oxygen as the only waste product. In my opinion, these life processes, as engineered by nature, outshine humanity’s best attempts to create environmentally friendly technology. We have a lot to learn from biology. Biotechnology is a rapidly growing field looking to do just that, by re-engineering biological processes to create products or technology, previously unobtainable or in a more environmentally friendly way. This talk will introduce enzyme catalysed fuel cells, devices which use enzymes taken from fungi or bacteria to generate electricity from hydrogen and oxygen, with only water as a waste product.”