[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/EW-03-15-13-Fuel-from-the-Sun.mp3|titles=EW 03-15-13 Fuel from the Sun]
We’ve learned to harvest some of the sun’s energy with solar hot water heaters and photovoltaic panels. These green technologies serve us well when the sun is shining. But neither compares to the ability that plants have to convert sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates – the process known as photosynthesis.
Scientists are hard at work trying to develop “artificial photosynthesis,” which is the technology of converting sunlight into liquid fuels. If this can be done economically and on a large scale, it will be the greenest of green technologies.
There are two primary goals for artificial photosynthesis. One is to use sunlight to extract hydrogen from water. Hydrogen can be used to fuel automobiles as well as power fuel cells for other applications.
The second version of artificial photosynthesis is to combine sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide, much as plants do, to form methanol and other hydrocarbon fuels. This would be a renewable way to use hydrocarbons since the carbon dioxide is recycled.
There has been considerable progress in this field over the past decade. The Department of Energy established the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis based at Cal Tech in 2010 with $122 million in funding over five years. Other important work is going on at MIT, in the UK, and elsewhere.
There are numerous problems to overcome before we can produce fuel from the sun on a large scale. Nature has given us a basic blueprint for harvesting energy from our most abundant source, and we have a real opportunity to learn how to do it.
**********
Web Links
The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis
Photo, taken on September 19, 2010, courtesy of Mixtribe Photo via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY, with partial support from the Field Day Foundation.