Energy Breakthough: New Energy Source in Sunthetic Photosynthesis

Researchers at MIT may have found a new way to create energy that mimics the photosynthesis process of plants. Professor Daniel G. Nocera of chemistry and former MIT graduate student Alan F. Heyduk have invented a compund that produces hydrogen gas with the help of a catalyst and a tiny amount of light.

The process, refered to by some as photosynthesis in a beaker, could provide a cheap, clean future energy source. It essentially creates a molecule to replace a leaf. Nocera explains, "our strategy is to use the energy of sunlight to drive reactants uphill to energy-rich products, thus harnessing the sun's energy to create a renewable energy source in the future."

"In the leaf, sugar and oxygen are energy-rich products. In our beaker, the sought-after fuels are hydrogen and a halogen, produced catalytically from the photochemical splitting of hydrohalic acid," Nocera said.

Sunlight is a free and essentially unlimited, it's the perfect energy source. The researchers have yet to perfect the process but have clearly made a huge breakthrough in energy science.