Using Photosynthesis to Supply Clean Energy

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Using Photosynthesis to Supply Clean Energy

Introduction

One of the things that most intrigues scientists is the ability to create new methods to harness clean energy. This desire to discover new ways of producing clean energy has lead scientists at Stanford University and other universities to discover a way to harness the electricity produced during the process of photosynthesis. After the initial experiment scientists saw photosynthesis as a viable means to harness and produce energy for the public.

How Does Photosynthetic Electricity Work?

Plants have been producing energy from the sun since the beginning of time, and as a result of millions of years of evolution and adaption most plants have a 100 percent efficiency rate. This means that plants do not waste any of the energy they take in from the sun’s rays. Seeing that plants are able to do a much better job than the artificial solar panels that are currently being made it seems only logical to try to harness them as an energy source. The process of capturing electricity from the process of photosynthesis is not extremely easy and there are many different ways to go about harvesting this energy. The underlying science of the process is actually very difficult and involves modifying the thylakoids, parts of a plant cell that capture and store energy from the sun. The Thylakoids are modified using carbon nanotubes to capture the electrons that the cell produces through photosynthesis. These captured electrons are what can be harnessed to create usable electricity. Many different scientists have tried to find the most effective way to harness photosynthetic electricity with varying degrees of success.

The Stanford Approach to photosynthetic electricity

The ...

... middle of paper ...

...nts needed for the process such as nanotubes are difficult and costly to create.

Conclusion

Photosynthetic energy has the possibility of making a major change in our global energy use but there are still a few things that scientists need to fix before this technology can be available for wide spread use. That being said, when Photosynthetic electricity is finally able to be used it has the possibility to create an almost endless supply of clean energy that not only does not produce emissions but actually cleans up emissions that were previously released by the burning of fossil fuels.

Bibliography

1. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/april/electric-current-plants-041310.html

2. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121123092129.htm

3. http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/energy/blogs/scientists-hack-photosynthesis-for-electricity

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