Apr 26 2008
Artificial photosynthesis and electricity generation
I have been doing a bit of reading on the current state of renewable energy or clean tech as the buzzword goes. One of the interesting areas of research within clean tech is the generation of electricity through an understanding of one of nature’s most potent phenomena - Photosynthesis.
There is of course the traditional area of photovoltaics which deals with the science and engineering of artificial devices such as solar cells. However, solar cells can still utilize only about 10-15% of the light energy as compared to the 98% utilization that nature has perfected over billions of years.
What about generating electricity directly from nature - say from a tree? I had this surreal hour long conversation with my good friend Babloo on this subject and then decided to do a bit of digging on the state of this particular question - is it possible to generate industrial grade electricity directly from within nature instead of through solar cell like devices?
Turns out it is! MagCap Engineering in Massachusetts recently revealed that they have developed circuitry that converts the natural energy from say, a tree, into useable DC power capable of sustaining a continuous current to charge and maintain a battery at full charge.
Some researchers are trying out different tricks including the oldest one - mimicking nature by creating artificial leaf-like systems from bio materials instead of silicon. Others such as Barry Bruce of the University of Tennessee are of the opinion that you can grow electricity within a natural setting - what he calls akin to growing a power plant in a green field.
I also stumbled upon the New Energy India group, a non-profit organization dedicated to the field of renewable energy in India - I hope to get in touch with them and find out more about interesting developments in this field in Bangalore, and India.
