The Potential of Artificial Photosynthesis

Artificial photosynthesis which could also be defined as mimicking photosynthetic process is a subdiscipline which has mainly developed in recent years. And, copying again the process which plants use transforming the sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into energy and oxygen researchers want to develop a clean and renewable source of fuel.

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This type of technology employs solar energy, primarily light absorbes and specific catalysts, to dissociate water into hydrogen and oxygen. The generated hydrogen has the potential to act as an energy source free form emission of greenhouse gases or be further reacted with carbon dioxide to form hydrocarbon fuels of lower carbon intensity than conventional hydrocarbons.

There is also the problem of climate change, which artificial photosynthesis can help to have an impact on since it deals with CO2, which is one of the significant sources of climate change. Besides, it is able to store energy in chemical bonds so as to deliver a stable and transportable power when the conditions are unfavorable for collecting solar power in certain regions where the sun does not radiate with excessive intensity.

Schemes put forwarded by researchers for artificial photosynthesis are seeing innovations in terms of efficiency as well as scalability. There are still some challenges to solve, for example the search for cheap material to construct these systems or implement organic solar cells in common batteries but this research provides hope for a future where the Earth will benefit from cheap and renewable energy with minimal pollution and extensive exploitation of non-renewable energy sources.