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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday September 05 2018, @12:08PM   Printer-friendly
from the artificial-chlorophyl dept.

St John's College:

Photosynthesis is the process plants use to convert sunlight into energy. Oxygen is produced as by-product of photosynthesis when the water absorbed by plants is 'split'. It is one of the most important reactions on the planet because it is the source of nearly all of the world's oxygen. Hydrogen which is produced when the water is split could potentially be a green and unlimited source of renewable energy.

A new study, led by academics at St John's College, University of Cambridge, used semi-artificial photosynthesis to explore new ways to produce and store solar energy. They used natural sunlight to convert water into hydrogen and oxygen using a mixture of biological components and humanmade technologies.

The research could now be used to revolutionise the systems used for renewable energy production. A new paper, published in Nature Energy, outlines how academics at the Reisner Laboratory in Cambridge developed their platform to achieve unassisted solar-driven water-splitting.

Their method also managed to absorb more solar light than natural photosynthesis.


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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday September 06 2018, @12:32PM (2 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday September 06 2018, @12:32PM (#731262)

    no birds, no poop, I imagine.

    Most of the US is far enough north that the panels are set up at a pretty good angle (30-45 degrees) so a lot just slides off, but... in Florida and Texas we get a pervasive black mold on just about everything that isn't chemically treated, and the chemical treatment only lasts a few years before it loses effectiveness.

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  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Friday September 07 2018, @11:30AM (1 child)

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Friday September 07 2018, @11:30AM (#731713)

    pervasive black mold on just about everything

    Yuck like a microscopic Kudzu plant

    • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday September 07 2018, @12:38PM

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Friday September 07 2018, @12:38PM (#731731)

      It's pretty demoralizing - pressure wash it away, see it completely regrown within a year. It gets slippery on sidewalks, turns buildings and all sorts of other vertical surfaces a streaky black, and occasionally it releases spores.

      In Houston they blamed the mold spores for the crap in the air, but my ionic filter didn't collect mold spores so much, it did collect tar-dust, which turns sticky again when concentrated on a collector.

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