Scientists Create The First Artificial Leaf

[Guest]

Photosynthesis to power your future.

Scientists Create The First Artificial Leaf : Read more

 

[Thunderfox]

So it only produces enough power to facilitate a third world lifestyle? Presumably you could make bigger ones for the rest of the world, but the question about the whole thing is cost. For something new and technologically advanced, I imagine it's expensive.

 

[RADIO_ACTIVE]

"The artificial leaf shows particular promise as an inexpensive source of electricity for homes of the poor in developing countries."
LOL this is just what we are going to see on a shack of a poor family LOL /sarcasm

 

[Ramar]

ITT Science does incredible things, internet tough guys are TOO COOL FOR SOLAR ENERGY CH-CH-CH-YEEAEEEAH.

I can't wait for commercial release, I want a self-sustaining house but think solar panels are ugly as sin.

 

[bayouboy]

Don't make stuff up. This is not the first artificial leaf. That honor goes to John Turner of the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado almost a decade ago. Some one I have personally met while attending school at the Colorado School of Mines. This is explicitly stated in the source article. This artificial leaf is the first practical one.

If this technology is so amazing, why is it only targeted at third world countries. Surely if this process mimics plants in the capturing of solar radiation to convert into energy, it should be easily scaled up into generating large quantities of energy to power cities.

Alas, what is not mentioned is that this technology is far less efficient than solar cell technology and more than likely will not be a replacement due to inherent efficiency losses.

 

[ta152h]

This sounds horrible.

The basis for life is water. So, we want to consume it by the billions of gallons every day. Then, this house will have pure oxygen around, and pure hydrogen, which is volatile. Presumably, the hydrogen would escape at some point, and the Earth can not keep hydrogen atoms, so it would leave our planet, never to return.

Something seems wrong. We're complaining about not enough drinkable water, and then we want to liberate from the earth the hydrogen contained in it. When you consider how many people live in this world, if you're pulling down hundreds of millions of gallons of water a day, you don't think there's going to be some climate change from all this loss of water over a period of time?

The only thing is, it's not clear if the water is reconstituted. If it is, no problem, but if it's lost, it's insanity.

 

[americanherosandwich]

Now that they can make artificial leaves, can they start growing money on trees?

 

[heyhihowyadurrin]

Um what

 

[americanherosandwich]

Btw, TA152H, they didn't specify they needed freshwater. Since it's artificial, I'm sure saltwater would do.

 

[Guest]

5,4,3,2,1 blocked by the oil companies

 

[Guest]

Sorry....Govt funding is going to dry up.

To get funding from our Govt., try fitting 3rd world houses in the USA first! There are lots of them, once you get out of the cities.

 

[ben BOys]

why green surly black or even white leaf would be better?

 

[aaron88_7]

[citation][nom]Thunderfox[/nom]So it only produces enough power to facilitate a third world lifestyle?[/citation]
The idea is that it is simple and cheap enough to easily instal in parts of the world that cannot afford large power plants, with the eventual goal that it could eliminate the need to burn oil or create nuclear fission which as we can all clearly see is a massive disaster waiting to happen.

The irony is that these 3rd world countries of people living in squalor are the only humans best suited to withstand the climate changes that so called "advanced" civilizations are causing. Like it or not, those will be the survivors of the next climate change.

 

[watcha]

[citation][nom]americanherosandwich[/nom]Btw, TA152H, they didn't specify they needed freshwater. Since it's artificial, I'm sure saltwater would do.[/citation]

It doesn't matter whether it's freshwater or saltwater. Evaporated saltwater is tomorrows fresh water. If this process converts ANY kind of water into Hydrogen and Oxygen, that could potentially deplete the global water levels if used on a large scale. Since we only have a finite quantity of water, it would be madness.

 

[uncfan_2563]

Guys.... the pure hydrogen wouldn't stick around. It would be just like in Hydrogen powered cars where it reacts with oxygen again and the waste product is water.

also this isn't photosynthesis. *durrr*

 

[tomaz99]

[citation][nom]bayouboy[/nom]Don't make stuff up. This is not the first artificial leaf. That honor goes to John Turner of the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado almost a decade ago. Some one I have personally met while attending school at the Colorado School of Mines. This is explicitly stated in the source article. This artificial leaf is the first practical one.If this technology is so amazing, why is it only targeted at third world countries. Surely if this process mimics plants in the capturing of solar radiation to convert into energy, it should be easily scaled up into generating large quantities of energy to power cities.Alas, what is not mentioned is that this technology is far less efficient than solar cell technology and more than likely will not be a replacement due to inherent efficiency losses.[/citation]

Yeah...good ol John (or jo-jo as I call him); he's great.

 

[tomaz99]

[citation][nom]TA152H[/nom]This sounds horrible.The basis for life is water. So, we want to consume it by the billions of gallons every day. Then, this house will have pure oxygen around, and pure hydrogen, which is volatile. Presumably, the hydrogen would escape at some point, and the Earth can not keep hydrogen atoms, so it would leave our planet, never to return. Something seems wrong. We're complaining about not enough drinkable water, and then we want to liberate from the earth the hydrogen contained in it. When you consider how many people live in this world, if you're pulling down hundreds of millions of gallons of water a day, you don't think there's going to be some climate change from all this loss of water over a period of time? The only thing is, it's not clear if the water is reconstituted. If it is, no problem, but if it's lost, it's insanity.[/citation]

Where are we going to find such a big repository of water??? Where on Earth do they even have a whole gallon a day...it's not like it falls from the sky or you can dig it up in the ground.

These scientists are just pushing the limits...

 

[sabot00]

[citation][nom]watcha[/nom]It doesn't matter whether it's freshwater or saltwater. Evaporated saltwater is tomorrows fresh water. If this process converts ANY kind of water into Hydrogen and Oxygen, that could potentially deplete the global water levels if used on a large scale. Since we only have a finite quantity of water, it would be madness.[/citation]
Do you know what burning is?
Probably not, it's oxidation, what happens when you oxidize hydrogen?
It forms a covalent bond with O in a ratio of 2 to 1.

H2O, so basically, you put 1 mole of water in, you get 2 moles of H and 1 mole of O back, then you burn the H, it recombines with O, and you get 1 mole of water back PLUS heat energy from the burning.
So basically the only thing that is really lost is Sunlight.

 

[dillyflump]

I won't deny it's a great invention. Two possible flaws though, a lot of areas in the third world lack enough water resources to waste good drinking water fueling a leaf, and two im guessing they don't have loads of money to purchase the electrical goods to utilize the leafs power in the first place.

 

[tomaz99]

[citation][nom]watcha[/nom]It doesn't matter whether it's freshwater or saltwater. Evaporated saltwater is tomorrows fresh water. If this process converts ANY kind of water into Hydrogen and Oxygen, that could potentially deplete the global water levels if used on a large scale. Since we only have a finite quantity of water, it would be madness.[/citation]

I drank a couple glasses of coke for lunch...then 'deposited' it back into the system...so I'm at equilibrium