Eco Factor: Process to produce energy using artificial photosynthesis.
After receiving $400 million in funding, ARPA-E’s first conference witnessed MIT chemist Dan Nocera proving that artificial photosynthesis could power an entire household using just sunlight and a bottle of water. Nocera has developed a special catalyst that splits water into its constituents that is hydrogen and oxygen, which can provide enough energy to run a house.
Unlike photosynthesis, where plants create energy in the form of sugars, Nocera’s process uses sunlight to convert CO2, sunlight and water into energy in the form of free hydrogen. This free hydrogen can be recombined with oxygen in a fuel cell or converted directly into liquid fuel. Nocera claims that in just four hours, the catalyst can produce 30KWh of electricity at a very low cost.
Via: GreenDiary/PopSci
