OK, now this is pretty cool. If they can get it to work robustly outside the lab, it could be pretty significant too. Direct solar-to-fuel conversion eliminates the logistics issue of transporting all the low-energy-density biomass from the field to the refinery. It also avoids having to deal with cellulose at all, which is a big win.
I wonder what the solar conversion efficiency is? It wouldn't have to be very high to beat natural photosynthesis...
This also leads me to wonder: if you can make a system that produces sugar from CO2, sunlight and water, I wonder if you could make a system that produces CO + H2 (i.e. town gas) instead. Town gas is a good direct fuel, and also a good feedstock for chemical and liquid fuel production.
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I wonder what the solar conversion efficiency is? It wouldn't have to be very high to beat natural photosynthesis...
This also leads me to wonder: if you can make a system that produces sugar from CO2, sunlight and water, I wonder if you could make a system that produces CO + H2 (i.e. town gas) instead. Town gas is a good direct fuel, and also a good feedstock for chemical and liquid fuel production.
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