It sounds like an "April Fools Day" post but I'm absolutely serious. Scientists at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom have demonstrated a process in which bacteria is used to consume sugar in confectionary waste supplied from a Cadbury plant, and produces a supply of useful Hydrogen to create electricity in a fuel cell.
The process has the double-edged sword of being both a possible energy source, but also a way to deal with organic waste products...
According to The Register...
E. coli bacteria in a five liter vessel fermented run-off from nougat and caramel production lines to produce hydrogen. A second culture of Rhodobacter sphaeroides was added to increase the yield of the reaction.
Adding palladium turns what little waste does remain into a useful catalyst that can be used in removing PCB pollutants from the environment, making fuel-cell electrodes, or for hydrogenation for products like margarine.
An assessment by a bioprocesses consultancy said the set-up could be scaled up to produce industrial quantities of carbon-free fuel.
Project leader Lynne Macaskie of Birmingham University said: "Although only at its initial stages, we've demonstrated a hydrogen-producing, waste-reducing technology that, for example, might be scaled up in five to 10 years time for industrial electricity generation and waste treatment."
You can see video of the process in action
here...