Cosmic Ray-driven Bioenergetics for Life in Molecular Clouds

According to models such as panspermia or the Nebula-Relay hypothesis, the ancestors of life on Earth once lived in molecular clouds. Then what are the energy source and bioenergetics for such lifeforms? A new bioenergetic mechanism powered by cosmic ray ionization of hydrogen molecules is proposed and its relation with the origin of chemiosmosis is also discussed in this paper. Based on this mechanism, the Last Universal Common Ancestor may be a type of lifeform that utilizes hydrogen molecules as donors of electron transport chains.