Our species is using up energy faster than it can be
produced naturally. As I explained before in my Vertical Farming article, and
was clearly demonstrated by our Footprint project, the world just is not big
enough for the way we are living today. Not only are we depleting non-renewable
resources, but the new energy technologies we come up with each have hurdles to
overcome before they can be fully used. Sometimes simple designs are more
likely to cross those hurdles. That’s
why this artificial leaf is such an ingenious idea.
Dr. Daniel Nocera of
Harvard University has engineered a producer of electricity modeled off of
nature’s very own leaf. It mimics a leaf’s ability to create energy from
sunlight and water. Nocera's
leaf consisted of a silicon wafer coated on each side with a different catalyst
– one for water oxidation and one for reducing protons into hydrogen gas.
He has even modified it so it can use water found in nature, instead of
purified water. This technology is
different because it is small, it can be mass produced, it can store energy so
it can be used at night, and a quarter of a gallon can produce 100 watts for 24
hours a day.
Some people fear that this concept is before its time. Not all
the technology is in place to support wide use of this technology. This is
hydrogen technology, and the methods of distribution needed for this to be
widely adopted as an energy alternative are not in place yet. Also, the price
of each “leaf” is still rather high. They are continuing research on using
cheaper material, but it is still a ways off.
I believe that there is still a long way for this to go, but
that this is the next step. The fact that they are still doing research and
making this more accessible to the public is promising. Energy production is a
problem that has to be addressed soon.
I guess it is true that with proper research and ingenuity scientists can do anything. And as with any new development the original prices will be rather high. All the invention needs is time. Time to adjust the model, time to get the cost down, and time for the idea to be accepted in society. With time comes perfection.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of this leaf is really cool! I know that they have even tried testing cars using hydrogen fuel. I like the idea of hydrogen based energy a lot, the way it is produced and used for energy is interesting, and it's a clean form of energy. I definitely would like to see this form of energy researched even more. 100 watts for 24 hours a day with ONLY a quarter gallon of water is incredible, or maybe that's just my thinking. I thought it would take a lot more water to produce that much energy!
ReplyDeleteAll of this new technology based off of nature is very interesting and refreshing and I hope that one day it can be used along with nature in collaboration. Actually I just think it would be cool to have a computer tree.
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