Researchers at the University of Wisconsin say they have found a viable substitute for platinum to use in the extraction of hydrogen fuel from plants.

The scientists have found a nickel-tin alternative that can be used as a catalyst rather than the expensive precious metal.

The substitute was identified after lengthy testing to find a nickel-tin-aluminium combination that would provoke a reaction from biomass-derived hydrocarbons.

The reaction had to create hydrogen and carbon dioxide, but avoid the production of excessive amounts of methane. The single step process developed by the team uses pressure, temperature and a catalyst to convert hydrocarbons. 

Products resulting from this process consist of 50 per cent hydrogen, with the remainder carbon dioxide and gaseous alkanes. Thanks to the fact that plants grown as fuel crops absorb the carbon dioxide, the process is greenhouse-gas neutral. 

The low temperature process does not boil any water, so is a significant energy saving over ethanol production or conventional fossil-fuel-based hydrogen-generation methods that boil water.

Biological engineering professor James Dumesic said the research was an important step in the process of establishing the use of environmentally sustainable power.

'The conversion of biomass into useful products is an important aspect of managing our natural resources effectively for sustainable production of needed chemicals and energy', he said.

'Our study illustrates how a systematic approach involving fundamental aspects of chemical and biological engineering can lead to new, environmentally sustainable processes for the production of energy,' he concluded.