Now, using genetic engineering, researchers at Tel Aviv University (TAU) have modified the organism, which could enable it to be used to mass-produce hydrogen on an industrial scale.

Hydrogen might burn clean, producing only water as a by-product, but currently over 90 percent of the hydrogen produced in the United States comes from fossil fuels. Although algae can produce hydrogen using photosynthesis, it was believed that this only occurred for a few minutes at dawn, resulting in limited amounts of the gas. But tests by a team led by Dr. Iftach Yacoby, the head of TAU's renewable energy laboratory, have revealed that algae actually produces hydrogen throughout the day.

Further tests revealed that the enzyme hydrogenase, which breaks down in the presence of oxygen, was integral to algae's hydrogen production. Through genetic modification the team was able to remove the oxygen so the hydrogenase is able to keep producing hydrogen, resulting in a boost in hydrogen production of 400 percent.