The ultimate green power
19.08.09
IT IS one of maturation's crowning achievements: a mini green power station and organic factory combined, and the start of almost all of the energy that fuels every living thing on the planet.
Now scientists developing the next generation of unsullied power sources are working out how to copy, and ultimately improve upon, the humble leaf.
The complicated chemistry involved in photosynthesis, the process where plants use sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugar, is the most efficient solar energy conversion process on Earth. Researchers believe that mimicking parts of the convert could be the ticket to a limitless supply of clean power.
The untapped potential for using the sun's rays is gigantic. All human activity for a year could be powered by the energy contained in the sunlight hitting the Earth in only one hour.
Harnessing even a small amount of this to make electricity or useful fuels could satisfy the life's increasing need for energy, predicted to double by 2050, without further endangering the climate.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald