Last year Daniel Nocera, professor of Energy Science at Harvard University who pioneered artificial photosynthesis, also called bionic leaf. From this project, they produced energy dense liquid fuel by using water, pure gaseous CO2 and one tenth of sunlight. This development is undoubtedly a milestone to solve our conventional energy problem in future.
Nocera and his Team published their new advanced concept in the Science journal, where they claimed that the bionic leaf process comparatively more efficient than natural photosynthesis. However, this artificial process needs similar inputs like sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water that also used in the natural process.
During an interview, team leader Prof. Nocera represents a summary of their overall project. They used a pair of inorganic cobalt-phosphorus water-splitting catalysts in their system to split water into molecular hydrogen and molecular oxygen at low driving voltage. They also use bioengineered bacterium called Ralstonia eutropha, which consumed the molecular hydrogen to synthesize biomass, fuel and chemical products from low concentrated CO2.
As per the latest report posted on Digital Trends, this astonishing new concept recently won 100k US dollar granted by Amazon catalyst for the development of Bionic Leaf Bioreactor Development Kit based on the similar concept. This kit actually an open source kit using microbial electrolysis carbon capture technology which is being used for the removal of excess CO2 from ambient air by converting it into methane fuel and food.
The main objective of this bionic leaf bioreactor development kit is reducing the greenhouse gasses from nature. There are several organizations are working to develop biofuel from hydrogen and carbon dioxide. But this bionic leaf is distinct procedure from them because they used microorganism instead of catalyst to convert hydrogen and carbon dioxide to liquid fuel. The most exciting thing about this concept is the byproducts, which may be used as a food though that is not ready for human body yet but suitable as a fish food.
