IU chemists create molecular 'leaf' that collects and stores solar power without solar panels

[NNadir]

6. This is rhenium chemistry. It's a joke to think its scalable.

Rhenium was the last stable element to be identified because it is so rare.

In theory, it could be in many cases be replaced by the fission product technetium, which has nearly - nearly but not completely - identical chemistry, but in the case where we utilized technetium, we would be embracing nuclear power (as we should) and not need this nonsensical wishful thinking stuff, so called "renewable energy."

The rhenium problem on this planet is very much tied to the combined cycle natural gas industry and the aerospace industry, and it's a huge, if under appreciated, problem. Modern technology very much depends on super alloys, many of which depend on access to rhenium, which will not be available for very much longer.

The idea of squandering rhenium on so called "renewable energy" is absurd. This technology, as written, would have a hard time powering Des Moines, Iowa, never mind the world. In fact, the solar industry has consistently failed to become significant throughout its history. It's not significant now. It won't ever be significant, all of the university press releases in the world notwithstanding.

I wrote about the technetium "solution" elsewhere: Technetium: Dangerous Nuclear Energy Waste or Essential Strategic Resource?