photosynthesis Archives – The Green Optimistic

Scientists Fix the Process of Photosynthesis

Mila Luleva — Sat, 16 Mar 2019 14:10:26 +0000

Scientists discovered a way to fix one of nature’s biggest flaws. They improved the process of photosynthesis and demonstrated huge boost in biomass production. Did you know that nature’s biggest flaw is related to photosynthesis? One of the most crucial natural processes that could assist us in mitigating climate change, is failing. How? Well, apparently […]

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Plant-Inspired Technology Makes Solar Cells Store Energy

Mila Luleva — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 13:08:25 +0000

Technology inspired by plant photosynthesis, allows solar cells to store energy for weeks, eliminating the need of batteries. Everyone is getting a bit tired of hearing that lack of development in energy storage stands in the way of otherwise blossoming renewable energy generation. But while battery developers are spending countless sleepless nights, trying to figure […]

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Researchers Harness Photosynthesis to Produce Energy

Leigh Hutchens — Tue, 14 May 2013 03:18:22 +0000

For years, scientists have been trying to harness the energy of photosynthesis since plants themselves are the perfect solar technology. Plants use photosynthesis to produce energy at nearly 100% efficiency. Researchers at the University of Georgia have been able to tap into photosynthesis directly to produce electricity. They discovered a method to interrupt photosynthesis to […]

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Artificial Photosynthesis Could Generate Hydrogen Fuel

Benji Jerew — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:42:38 +0000

Hydrogen could be the perfect zero-emissions fuel, if only the generating process could eliminate its carbon-footprint. There are a couple of ways to produce hydrogen for use in hydrogen fuel cell or even internal combustion engined vehicles, but they are not without their quirks. Electrolysis splits the hydrogen and oxygen from water molecules, but unless […]

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Algae Producing Fuel Through Photosynthesis With the Help of Engineering

Mila Luleva — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 20:12:44 +0000

New species of blue-green algae was engineered by chemists at University of California, Davis. The aim of the team, led by assistant professor Shota Atsumi, was to find a replacement of petroleum and natural gas to produce chemical feedstock. The findings were published in the latest Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences. The unique study looked […]

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Is Quantum Engineering the Key for Taking Solar Energy to the Next Level?

Leigh Hutchens — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 06:54:33 +0000

It is quite possible that understanding biological systems that have evolved from quantum scale photosynthesis may lead to better designs for solar energy and nanoscale devices. Scientists have determined that biological systems that live in low light conditions develop unique protein structures for photosynthesis that use quantum dynamics to convert 100% of absorbed light into […]

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Photosynthesis Debunked: Oxygen Evolving Complex Explains Water Oxidation

Mila Luleva — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:16:52 +0000

Using the means of quantum chemistry, scientists from the Max Plank Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion discovered new properties of the oxygen evolving complex (OEC). It is known that OEC is the catalyst that splits water molecules to build carbohydrates using sunlight. The researchers were now able to establish and solve its enigmatic spectroscopic behavior. […]

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Study of Algae Critical for Researchers to Understand Photosynthesis

Leigh Hutchens — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 13:31:26 +0000

73 researchers from 27 institutions, including the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI), collaborated to sequence and analyze the genomes and transcriptomes (the expressed genes) of two minute algae. The ultimate goal was to understand secondary endosymbiosis, from which chloroplasts originally evolved, and why certain organisms contain nucleomorphs. The findings were published […]

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Photosynthesis-Inspired Hydrogen Production Method Developed

Leigh Hutchens — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 06:15:57 +0000

Creating hydrogen fuel may not be a pipe dream after all. Researchers have deepened their understanding of photosynthesis using computer models, and this has led to the possibility of developing renewable, clean hydrogen fuel. The molecular structure of the photosynthesis reaction site in plants was revealed through extensive computer modeling. For the first time ever, […]

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Trying to Use Nocturnal Photosynthesis to Produce Biofuels More Efficiently

Mila Luleva — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 10:07:15 +0000

The U.S Department of Energy has recently provided funding for development of a new strain of a popular tree species that can perform nocturnal photosynthesis. The sum of $14 million has been given to a team of biofuel researchers led by the University of Nevada. The project is called “Engineering CAM Photosynthetic Machinery into Bioenergy […]

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Biological Switch Helps Optimize Algae Biofuel Production

Maria Reyes — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:02:55 +0000

Researchers have discovered a biological switch in blue-green algae that reacts to light, thereby altering the movement of electrons inside the cell. The new findings could help optimize biofuel production by algae. Algae are prime targets for biofuel production. They are non-feedstock and will not compete with arable land for their growth and production. They […]

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UCLA Scientists Produce Cheap Fuel from Solar Power and CO2

Ovidiu Sandru — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 09:05:30 +0000

Running an electric car on electricity is something pretty common (and logical), but running a gasoline car on electricity is something of fantastic realm. Still, a team of UCLA scientists have succeeded doing this – they produced high-grade alcohol by using electricity and fueled an internal combustion engine with it. “The current way to store […]

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UK Scientists One Step Closer to Artificial Leaves With New Discovery

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:07:19 +0000

As the world stands on grim perspectives, such as the doubling of energy consumption within the next 40 years and the imminent shortage of oil and gas, the attention shifts towards nature’s resorts. And photosynthesis, far-fetched as it may seem, is no exception. The principle of it is relatively simple: plants produce carbohydrates through what […]

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Tennessee Researcher Uses Photosynthesis and Zinc Oxide Tubes to Create Electricity

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:30:19 +0000

Yet another discovery to harness the “miracle” by which photosynthesis makes use of sunlight is about to teach scientists how to produce cheap energy even more efficiently. The discovery, made by Barry D. Bruce and his team of researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, MIT, and EPF in Switzerland, tapped into the photosynthetic process […]

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Research Shows How Trees Adapt to Sequester Carbon Efficiently Even in Low Light Conditions

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:36:49 +0000

A team of Czech researchers have recently published a paper that shows how forests adapt to various lighting scenarios and how those plants living inside dense canopies in jungles succeed increasing their carbon intake even in cloudy conditions. The paper has been published in the British Ecological Society’s Functional Ecology. Although one would normally think […]

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Light Harvesting Nanoantennas Made With Plant DNA and Artificial Molecules

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 05:55:51 +0000

A University of Toronto research team has reported the first time construction of what they call "artificial molecules." These molecules have been inspired by photosynthesis and use nanotechnology to harvest sunlight.

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Self-Repairing, Leaf-Mimicking Solar Cells Invented by MIT Scientists

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:33:49 +0000

A new and effective way of harnessing solar power comes from the researchers at MIT. Once again trying to mimic the way green plants work, the scientists now have a different approach, pointing to the fact that, otherwise invisible, the effects of sunlight over solar cells are often damaging.

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Hopes for Solar-Powered Hydrogen by New Virus-Based Artificial Photosynthesis System

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:52:34 +0000

A team of researchers from the MIT, led by Professor Angela Belcher, used a modified virus as a biological scaffold for assembling the nanoscale components needed to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The bacterial virus is called "M13", and it's said to be harmless.

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Stolen Electrons from Green Alga Demonstrate New Kind of Organic Solar Cells

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:02:13 +0000

WonHyoung Ryu at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, working with overseas colleagues from Stanford, found an interesting way of hybridization between a green alga, Chlamydomonas, and gold nanowires, to directly collect the electrons produced through photosynthesis by the plant.

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Artificial Photosynthesis Could Power Homes on a Bottle of Water

Mike Sandru — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:25:40 +0000

MIT chemist Dan Nocera claims that with just one bottle of drinking water and four hours of sunlight, he can generate 30 KWh of electric energy, being enough to power an entire home. This process consist in a a cobalt-based catalyst that uses solar energy to split water and produce hydrogen.

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New Artificial Leaf Concept Increases Hydrogen Output Three Times

Mike Sandru — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:17:40 +0000

This idea is not new, but until now scientists have focused on trying to mimic or modify the molecules directly involved in splitting hydrogen. "We'd like to adopt an entirely different concept, to mimic photosynthesis by copying the elaborate architectures of green leaves," says Tongxiang Fan.

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Hydrogen Created by Artificial Photosynthesis Process

Cristi — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:12:59 +0000

A team of scientists from the University of Rochester has a tough mission creating a hydrogen fuel cell that not only burns cleanly but the fuel itself has to be created from clean sources. They have developed a process that uses artificial photosynthesis and nanotubes to finalize this project.

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Artificial Photosynthesis Succeeded Using Gold "Leaves"

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:53:51 +0000

Kane Jennings and Peter Ciesielski, along with a team of scientists from the Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, have been working to create the world's first artificial leaf, that can do what natural leaves do: capture the light. More, their leaves transform that light into electricity. So, the nature's 3.5 billion years work is now to be synthesized in a lab experiment. Here's how they do it.

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Hydrogen Produced by Mimicking Photosynthesis

Ovidiu Sandru — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:01:20 +0000

MIT researchers found out a way to create energy by mimicking the photosynthesis process that green plants acquire their energy from. Prof. Daniel G. Nocera and former MIT graduate student Alan F. Heyduk invented a hydrogen-producing compound. They also use a catalyst and small amounts of light.

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