Author: Ravinder Bhardwaj
Although the idea might not entirely be novel, it took shape and direction in my mind independently of similar work done elsewhere. How can energy be harnessed from water by mimicking the process of photosynthesis which trees have adapted for nearly 3.4 billion years ago? Just a quick recap on photosynthesis – plants use carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) as the most important ingredients from the air and soil, respectively. Inside the plant cells, the water loses its electron that is get oxidised while the carbon dioxide gains electrons or reduced. This redox reaction converts water into oxygen which gets released into the air and the carbon dioxide into glucose that gets stored as energy molecules glucose.
The idea is to adapt this process sustainably (maybe synthetically) at the laboratory and then industrial scale. This approach would help to reduce climate change due to global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the environment, adding more oxygen in the air and producing glucose which can be used for various purposes.
How can a proto-type be designed and what would be the mechanism to achieve this goal will be released in the near-future update.
I am happy if this idea can be copied or used by research organisation(s) to design a system to harness the mechanism of photosynthesis to extract energy from water and CO2 in the environment.