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Artificial Photosynthesis

Hydrogen Production

Artificial photosynthesis is a chemical process that biomimics the natural process of photosynthesis. The term is used loosely to refer to any scheme for capturing and storing energy from sunlight by producing a fuel, specifically a solar fuel. An advantage of artificial photosynthesis is that the resulting solar energy could be converted and stored directly as fuel; by contrast, a photovoltaic cell converts sunlight into electricity and then converts that electricity again into chemical energy for storage, with energy losses associated with the second conversion. The byproducts of artificial photosynthesis reactions are environmentally friendly, and artificially photosynthesized fuel would be a carbon-neutral energy source, though it has never been demonstrated in any practical sense and the economics of artificial photosynthesis remain noncompetitive.

Facts
Partially Attested
Invented Year
1912 1
source states the concept was first anticipated in this year, not that a working technology was invented then
Classification
Maturity
TRL 3: Experimental Proof of Concept 1
Technology Type
biomimetic chemical process 1
Sources
1. Artificial photosynthesis - Wikipedia
  • Lead section, first sentence
    a chemical process that biomimics the natural process of photosynthesis
  • History section
    Artificial photosynthesis was first anticipated by the Italian chemist Giacomo Ciamician during 1912
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