Plant Enzyme Can Convert Carbon Monoxide Into Propane, Paving the Way for Exhaust-Powered Cars | Popular Science: An enzyme found in soybeans could turn an ingredient in vehicle exhaust into new usable fuel, according to a new study. It's a major step on the path toward making fuel out of thin air.
Scientists were working with a microbe called Azotobacter vinelandii, which is found around the roots of various food plants. It creates an enzyme called vanadium nitrogenase, which produces ammonia from nitrogen.
In a study published in the journal Science, researchers took away the nitrogen and fed it carbon monoxide instead. The enzyme started making short carbon chains, two or three atoms long -- in other words, propane, which fuels the blue flames of camping grills across America.
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