New solar fuel machine 'mimics plant life'
In the prototype, sunlight heats a ceria cylinder which breaks down water or carbon dioxide A prototype solar device has been unveiled which mimics plant life, turning the Sun's energy into fuel.
The machine uses the Sun's rays and a metal oxide called ceria to break down carbon dioxide or water into fuels which can be stored and transported. Conventional photovoltaic panels must use the electricity they generate in situ, and cannot deliver power at night.
Details are published in the journal Science.
The prototype, which was devised by researchers in the US and Switzerland, uses a quartz window and cavity to concentrate sunlight into a cylinder lined with cerium oxide, also known as ceria.end quote
I have often thought of solar power being like a form of photosynthesis. So, philosophically and logically inventing a process that works a lot like synthetic photosynthesis makes complete sense to me.
However, in some ways it reminds me of electrolysis where one uses electricity to split H2O into Hydrogen atoms and Oxygen atoms. In this case the sun is making hydrogen and oxygen out of water and carbon monoxide is the byproduct. Carbon monoxide is what kills people in their exhaust from their cars. So, I suppose theoretically one could have these solar generators on ones roof and then store the hydrogen in some kind of safe storage and then use the hydrogen to fuel hydrogen fuel cells to run either ones car or one's home thereby avoiding paying any electrical utility bills at all ever again.
The problem with this is that there is a finite amount of water on earth and as we break away water into hydrogen and oxygen, if the hydrogen ever gets loose in the atmosphere it goes to the very top and stays there closest to space. So trying to rejoin that hydrogen to oxygen to make water if it ever becomes a time with a water shortage here on earth if we are burning up hydrogen or just breaking away hydrogen from oxygen in water could also be problematic for anything that lives that needs water on earth in the future.
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