MAY 12

]http://newscenter.lbl.gov/press-releases/2009/03/10/turning-sunlight-into-liquid-fuels-berkeley-lab-researchers-create-a-nano-sized-photocatalyst-for-artificial-photosynthesis/]

Artificial photosynthesis for the production of liquid fuels offers the promise of a renewable and carbon-neutral source of transportation energy, meaning it would not contribute to the global warming that results from the burning of oil and coal. The idea is to improve upon the process that has long-served green plants and certain bacteria by integrating into a single platform light-harvesting systems that can capture solar photons and catalytic systems that can oxidize water - in other words, an artificial leaf.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_...032707.php

article is a little old but good reading:

New developments in 'artificial photosynthesis'
Inspired by nature, scientists explore pathways to clean, renewable solar fuel
CHICAGO, IL -- Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory are trying to design catalysts inspired by photosynthesis, the natural process by which green plants convert sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into oxygen and carbohydrates. The goal is to design a bio-inspired system that can produce fuels like methanol, methane, and hydrogen directly from water and carbon dioxide using renewable solar energy. Four Brookhaven chemists will discuss their research on this so-called "artificial photosynthesis" at the 233rd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Mother Nature’s work isn’t so easy to perform in a laboratory. In the beginning stages of photosynthesis, the absorption of light by chlorophyll – a molecule responsible for the green color in plants – drives the complex photosynthetic reaction. The energy of sunlight is transferred in the form of electrons and positive charges throughout a pathway of various steps before the final products – carbohydrates (the plants’ food) and oxygen – are produced. However, because the components of natural photosystems do not work properly outside their normal environment, the Brookhaven scientists are investigating other cataylsts that could be used to replicate these natural functions. Below are summaries of these talks, which are part of the American Chemical Society symposium "Catalysis Relevant to Energy and Sustainability." NOTE: The embargo date/time for each talk is specified after the title.

Catalyzing Oxygen Production from Water
EMBARGOED until 11:20 a.m. Central Time/ 12:20 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, March 25, 2007

To replicate one of the important steps in natural photosynthesis, Brookhaven chemists James Muckerman and Dmitry Polyansky have turned to molecular complexes containing metals such as ruthenium that can drive the conversion of water into oxygen, protons, and electrons. These ruthenium catalysts hold water molecules in place to make oxygen bonds while the protons and electrons are transferred among the molecules and the catalyst, providing the charges necessary to continue the photosynthesis process. During this multi-step reaction, Polyansky tries to experimentally determine the stability and geometry of the molecules with different kinds of time-resolved optical spectroscopy techniques. Muckerman compares the lab results to calculations based on theory. Because the intermediate species can be very unstable, they might exist for much less than a millisecond, or one thousandth of a second. This makes catching the molecules in action very difficult. "The catalysts we’re using are not necessarily the ultimate catalysts to be used in any practical photosynthetic device," Muckerman said. "The aim of our work is to understand how theses catalysts work and to elucidate the detailed mechanistic steps so we can design better catalysts." Muckerman will discuss his work at 10:50 a.m. Central Time/ 11:50 p.m. Eastern Time in room E270, Level 2, of the McCormick Place East, Chicago, Illinois. Polyansky will follow at 11:20 a.m. Central Time/ 12:20 p.m. Eastern Time.

Building a Bio-inspired Catalytic Cycle for Fuel Production
EMBARGOED until 3:45 p.m. Central Time/ 4:45 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, March 25, 2007

Further down the photosynthetic line, there’s another molecule whose function scientists are trying to replicate. Like a robotic arm on an assembly line, a special molecule called the NADP+/NADPH coenzyme cycles back and forth, picking up a proton and two electrons and depositing them (or their combined negative ion, called a hydride) for use in the eventual production of carbohydrates. This coenzyme molecule is recyclable in natural photosynthesis, but cannot perform its catalytic function in the laboratory. The goal for scientists is to find an NADPH-inspired catalyst that will mimic nature’s cyclical motion. "Using visible light, we want to regenerate hydride donors, where the same molecule will just keep turning over," said Brookhaven chemist Etsuko Fujita. Like Muckerman and Polyansky, Fujita and her coworkers are also using a ruthenium-based complex for their functional model. This artificial complex has been shown to work similarly to NADP+/NADPH, acting as the source of two electrons and a proton in the transformation of acetone to isopropanol. The researchers are investigating how the hydride donors can be generated using light, and plan to use this type of artificial catalyst for the production of fuels from carbon dioxide (or related molecules) in the future. Fujita will discuss her research at 3:45 p.m. Central Time/ 4:45 p.m. Eastern Time in room E270, Level 2, of the McCormick Place Lakeside, Chicago, Illinois.

Finding a "Supercritical" Solution to CO2 Reduction
EMBARGOED until 11:45 a.m. Central Time/ 12:45 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 27, 2007

One of the final steps in "artificial photosynthesis" is turning carbon dioxide molecules (CO2) into clean, useful fuels. Catalysts capable of converting CO2 into carbon monoxide (CO) – a powerful source of fuel – already exist. However, "the problem is that the catalysts are inefficient and slow – nowhere near efficient enough to use in a practical application," said Brookhaven chemist David Grills. One of the reasons for this is that the liquid solvent used to dissolve the chemicals deactivates one of the key intermediate species that reacts with CO2. So Grills is trying to eliminate the need for this solvent by pressurizing and heating up the CO2 (which is a gas under normal conditions) until it takes on some of the properties of a liquid and can act as a good solvent. "Now, our solvent is the reactant and nothing else is getting in the way," Grills said. In addition to speeding up the reaction time, the physical properties of this so-called supercritical CO2 can be easily tuned to change the reaction, and the use of toxic organic solvents is avoided. Grills will discuss his research at 11:45 a.m. Central Time/ 12:45 p.m. Eastern Time in room E270, Level 2, of the McCormick Place East, Chicago, Illinois.

get articiial photosynthesis going and solve global warming and peak coal/oil problem. with this technology, burning fossil fuels can one day have 0 CO2 emissions.

Peak coal in 2025? What's the problem? Party on until December 2024. And quit talking about saving the planet, what you really mean is that perhaps we have a tiny chance of saving our wretched species from self-imposed extinction.

Just to reiterate. Combustion of ANY hydrocarbons produce CO2, water and other greenhouse gases. Great to hear there might be methods to remove CO2 on the horizon. When will they be large scale and will they be affordable and without unintended consequences? Unfortunately the horizon for cataclysmic climate change is NOW! We need to stop burning hydrocarbons if we want to stop climate disaster.

Unfortunately the horizon for cataclysmic climate change is NOW!

unfortunately there's no way that all of us or any of us can stop burning hydrocarbons NOW. we can do as much as we can to reduce the use of hydrocarbons but if you want to stop all of it now then the whole world would come to a screaching halt....not very feasible.

Peak Coal is not coming, and if it is its because there are plenty of alternatives. Recently there has been a huge surge in natural gas discoveries. It is likely that nat-gas plants and wind will replace the coal and coal will slowly wither in the next 10-15 years.

I am no fan of coal and think it will be obsolete here soon but it will not run out. Demand for coal will likely decline (at least for use in the US) There are vast expanses of the earth's crust that have not been explored and there are still vast hydrocarbons in storage for us to mine, but mining the sky is probably simplier.

Also the "cataclysmic climate change is NOW" crowd might as well just give up now if that's what they really think. Change happens slowly, and if there was 'unstoppable' climate change it would have happened already in the past, but it hasn't, it takes the earth 1000s of years to change its climate path.

Hey Solar Power get a clue! The Chinese are the number one coal users and they are rapidly expanding their usage.

If the USA quit burning hydrocarbons completely - within 20 years the Chinese would have increased their pollution level to make up the drop.

Bobbobberson:
Actually, you're wrong about climate change occuring over 1000s of years. There is ample evidence of several cases of dramatic and very fast (i.e. within a decade) climate change in the past. One example that I can recall right now is when something (I think the theory is a massive infusion of fresh water into the North Atlantic) shut down the Gulf stream. That happened at some point in the distant past within a matter of a few years or less. It created an ice age in Europe because the gulf stream brings so much heat to the N. Atlantic.

You might argue about when and why, but there should be no doubt that at some point the amount of coal produced (mined would probably be a better term) will peak, either because of switching to other energy sources, completely running out of coal, or some type of global apocalypse which makes humans extinct. The amount of coal we pull out of the ground will peak at some point.

I know this is completely irrelevant, but at a glance I thought the title was "Peep Coal May Happen as Soon as 2025".

Reading these articles, and watching your youtube videos, and hearing your passion for an ecofriendly world has inspired me to be more environmentally friendly. Hank Green, I'm going green. [That's possibly the worst slogan I've ever created].

I remember my 3rd grade teacher saying 66 years ago that the world only had 20-30 years of oil left.As the coal reserves may have been over estimated in the past they may be also underestimated today.

If peak coal is around the corner, then
you don't have to tax it to death, do you?

Great and interesting information.

Last year I wrote about the Energy Watch Group, which was formed to keep the fossil fools accountable, providing governments with objective analysis on energy.

http://tinyurl.com/o6h5pb

Lets price coal out of existence before it peaks and use the $$ to make a smooth, equitable, rational transition.

2025 is right around the corner!