Artificial photosynthesis

Artificial photosynthesis is a chemical process that biomimics the natural process of photosynthesis. The term artificial photosynthesis is used loosely, referring to any scheme for capturing and then storing energy from sunlight by producing a fuel, specifically a solar fuel.^[1] An advantage of artificial photosynthesis would be that the solar energy could converted and stored. By contrast, using photovoltaic cells, sunlight is converted into electricity and then converted again into chemical energy for storage, with some necessary losses of energy associated with the second conversion. The byproducts of these reactions are environmentally friendly. Artificially photosynthesized fuel would be a carbon-neutral source of energy, but it has never been demonstrated in any practical sense. The economics of artificial photosynthesis are noncompetitive.^[2]

^ Kudo, Akihiko; Miseki, Yugo (2009). "Heterogeneous photocatalyst materials for water splitting". Chem. Soc. Rev. 38 (1): 253–278. doi:10.1039/b800489g. PMID 19088977.
^ Cite error: The named reference economist1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1] Kudo, Akihiko; Miseki, Yugo (2009). "Heterogeneous photocatalyst materials for water splitting". Chem. Soc. Rev. 38 (1): 253–278. doi:10.1039/b800489g. PMID 19088977.

[economist1-2] Cite error: The named reference economist1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1]

[2]