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hubie writes:

Scientists are developing artificial photosynthesis to help make food production more energy-efficient here on Earth, and one day possibly on Mars:

Photosynthesis has evolved in plants for millions of years to turn water, carbon dioxide, and the energy from sunlight into plant biomass and the foods we eat. This process, however, is very inefficient, with only about 1% of the energy found in sunlight ending up in the plant. Scientists at UC Riverside and the University of Delaware have found a way to bypass the need for biological photosynthesis altogether and create food independent of sunlight by using artificial photosynthesis.

The research, published in Nature Food, uses a two-step electrocatalytic process to convert carbon dioxide, electricity, and water into acetate, the form of the main component of vinegar. Food-producing organisms then consume acetate in the dark to grow. Combined with solar panels to generate the electricity to power the electrocatalysis, this hybrid organic-inorganic system could increase the conversion efficiency of sunlight into food, up to 18 times more efficient for some foods.

[...] Experiments showed that a wide range of food-producing organisms can be grown in the dark directly on the acetate-rich electrolyzer output, including green algae, yeast, and fungal mycelium that produce mushrooms. Producing algae with this technology is approximately fourfold more energy efficient than growing it photosynthetically. Yeast production is about 18-fold more energy efficient than how it is typically cultivated using sugar extracted from corn.

[...] By liberating agriculture from complete dependence on the sun, artificial photosynthesis opens the door to countless possibilities for growing food under the increasingly difficult conditions imposed by anthropogenic climate change. Drought, floods, and reduced land availability would be less of a threat to global food security if crops for humans and animals grew in less resource-intensive, controlled environments. Crops could also be grown in cities and other areas currently unsuitable for agriculture, and even provide food for future space explorers.

Journal Reference:
Hann, E.C., Overa, S., Harland-Dunaway, M. et al. A hybrid inorganic–biological artificial photosynthesis system for energy-efficient food production. Nat Food 3, 461–471 (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s43016-022-00530-x

Original Submission

1. "hubie" - https://soylentnews.org/~hubie/
2. "Scientists are developing artificial photosynthesis to help make food production more energy-efficient here on Earth, and one day possibly on Mars" - https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2022/06/23/artificial-photosynthesis-can-produce-food-without-sunshine
3. "Nature Food" - https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-022-00530-x
4. "10.1038/s43016-022-00530-x" - https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00530-x
5. "Original Submission" - https://soylentnews.org/submit.pl?op=viewsub&subid=55756

printed from SoylentNews, Artificial Photosynthesis Can Produce Food Without Sunshine on 2024-04-30 17:23:33