THE breakthrough achieved by the Dundee team came after they realised they could reverse a process by which – in the absence of oxygen and in the presence of a metal-containing enzyme called FHL – E-coli converts formic acid into carbon dioxide and hydrogen.

The reversed reaction, however was unreliable and slow – until they pressurised a carbon dioxide and hydrogen mixture to dissolve the carbon dioxide.

By doing this they achieved results so efficient that 100 per cent of the gas was converted to formic acid, at a much faster rate.

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The pressure involved is not huge or costly, “about the same pressure as in an Irn Bru bottle” Prof Sargant explains. But there are other hurdles.

Hydrogen is currently usually produced using fossil fuels in an industry practice called steam reformation of methane, which undermines the benefits. Meanwhile the carbon monoxide produced by some heavy industries would kill the E-coli before it can work.

READ MORE: Scottish research shows e-coli bug may be climate game-changer

However both are surmountable, the team believes. There are greener ways of producing hydrogen, and they hope to use a separate enzyme which could convert carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide where it is present, early in the process.