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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe bionic leaf is one step closer to reality.
This would be YUUUGE, as they say.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601641/a-big-leap-for-an-artificial-leaf/
Daniel Nocera, a professor of energy science at Harvard who pioneered the use of artificial photosynthesis, says that he and his colleague Pamela Silver have devised a system that completes the process of making liquid fuel from sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water. And theyve done it at an efficiency of 10 percent, using pure carbon dioxidein other words, one-tenth of the energy in sunlight is captured and turned into fuel. That is much higher than natural photosynthesis, which converts about 1 percent of solar energy into the carbohydrates used by plants, and it could be a milestone in the shift away from fossil fuels. The new system is described in a new paper in Science.
Bill Gates has said that to solve our energy problems, someday we need to do what photosynthesis does, and that someday we might be able to do it even more efficiently than plants, says Nocera. That someday has arrived.
In nature, plants use sunlight to make carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water. Artificial photosynthesis seeks to use the same inputssolar energy, water, and carbon dioxideto produce energy-dense liquid fuels. Nocera and Silvers system uses a pair of catalysts to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, and feeds the hydrogen to bacteria along with carbon dioxide. The bacteria, a microörganism that has been bioengineered to specific characteristics, converts the carbon dioxide and hydrogen into liquid fuels.
Several companies, including Joule Unlimited and LanzaTech, are working to produce biofuels from carbon dioxide and hydrogen, but they use bacteria that consume carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide, rather than hydrogen. Noceras system, he says, can operate at lower temperatures, higher efficiency, and lower costs.
Bill Gates has said that to solve our energy problems, someday we need to do what photosynthesis does, and that someday we might be able to do it even more efficiently than plants, says Nocera. That someday has arrived.
In nature, plants use sunlight to make carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water. Artificial photosynthesis seeks to use the same inputssolar energy, water, and carbon dioxideto produce energy-dense liquid fuels. Nocera and Silvers system uses a pair of catalysts to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, and feeds the hydrogen to bacteria along with carbon dioxide. The bacteria, a microörganism that has been bioengineered to specific characteristics, converts the carbon dioxide and hydrogen into liquid fuels.
Several companies, including Joule Unlimited and LanzaTech, are working to produce biofuels from carbon dioxide and hydrogen, but they use bacteria that consume carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide, rather than hydrogen. Noceras system, he says, can operate at lower temperatures, higher efficiency, and lower costs.
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The bionic leaf is one step closer to reality. (Original Post)
Recursion
Jun 2016
OP
tblue37
(65,295 posts)1. K&R for visibility. nt
Aerows
(39,961 posts)2. That's pretty awesome.
Interesting tech.
longship
(40,416 posts)3. Kicking, and a DURec. nt
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)4. Kick and Rec
Been watching Nocera and his synthetic leaf for a few years. Glad to see it's still moving ahead..
The idea of every house in America being it's own power plant is, to me, the 21st century agrarian society. It's personal freedom and opportunity.
I'm sure they will never be a silver bullet and some doucher on Facebook will bring up how carbon is used to manufacture parts and components... But we all know better.
Orrex
(63,199 posts)6. Terrific. Robots replacing more jobs down at the plant.