Key Takeaways
Scientists have successfully developed a system that uses sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to produce methane, a sustainable fuel that could replace fossil fuels (Yamada et al., 2023).
This artificial photosynthesis approach mimics natural plant photosynthesis and represents a major step towards harvesting clean renewable energy from the sun (Domen et al., 2020).
Preliminary outdoor testing showed the system could continuously produce methane for three days, suggesting potential for scale-up and commercialization (Yamada et al., 2023).
While still in development, artificial photosynthesis offers a complementary approach to solar power and could enable production of versatile chemicals for fuels and materials (Blankenship et al., 2011; Lewis & Nocera, 2006).
MelastSB@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
It’s “sustainable” as in “we can keep producing methane even when oil fields are empty”, not as in “methane does not produce greenhouse gases when burned”
Skua@kbin.social 11 months ago
If it's getting all of the car in for that methane from atmospheric carbon dioxide then it should at least be neutral. The production should, if that is how it's working, remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as burning the product would release. This would make it a hell of a lot better than fossil extraction since that's taking carbon not currently in the atmosphere and then releasing it in to the atmosphere
Ultra_Unlimited@discuss.tchncs.de 11 months ago
Important distinctions. Fortunately there are lots of other renewable innovations to celebrate. I like to believe we are getting closer to the solarpunk future humanity deserves!
Noodle07@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Humanity doesn’t deserve shit
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 11 months ago
It uses CO2 to produce the methane, so it should be neutral.