Artificial Photosynthesis: The Next Giant Green Power Plant, Generator
Do you know that one hour of sunlight falling on the earth is approximately equal to the energy consumed by a planet in one year? So are we running out of power? You tell me…
But the remaining problem is that, for centuries, researchers have struggled to solve the mystery of breaking down solar energy into an applicable one. These chemical reactions have long been resolved by nature.
A plant leaf can do what we call photosynthesis which absorbs energy directly from the sun. The effectiveness of photosynthesis is very high, leaving far behind the invention of humans, such as solar panels. The most efficient solar panel currently known can only convert about 6% of solar energy. We waste the other 93% of free solar energy that is available in abundance.
Therefore, for years, scientists have struggled to discover what and how the complex chemistry acts behind this process of photosynthesis. Once this mystery is solved, we can mimic the process and create some artificial photosynthesis to convert solar energy into applicable forms of energy with high efficiency.
What does the plant actually do in photosynthesis?
Very simple to say, “Split water molecules”. As you already know, water is made up of 2 hydrogen molecules and 1 oxygen.
But splitting water molecules requires very complex chemical reactions. The action takes place on leaves, algae, phytoplankton and other green organisms. Basically, plants break down water (H2O) into its components Hydrogen and Oxygen.
Oxygen Molecules are released into the air, and we use them to breathe our lives, that’s why we don’t want the population of these green organisms to continuously decrease in number, because we and the whole planet depend on them.
Hydrogen is used to convert carbon dioxide that is extracted from the air into carbon-based organic molecules. These carbon-based molecules can be said as the food for plants, these molecules are used to build plant tissues.
Once scientists have solved the mystery of photosynthesis and created artificial photosynthesis, we can use the hydrogen molecules that have been split and use them to replace gasoline. And currently scientists are working hard to solve this case.
So if plants have already solved their energy needs a long time ago, we don’t need to find other technologies to satisfy ours. What we need is to study plants and learn from them.
As the saying goes, “if the blade can do it, so can we.”
