Moving Artificial Leaves Out of the Lab

[iancampbell]

The point isn't to replace plants for carbon-capture, but to create a cheaper, more efficient way to collect and store solar energy.

Using the Fischer-Tropsch process, carbon monoxide (from these "leaves") can be combined with hydrogen (from split water) to create, for example, gasoline. Gasoline is a fantastic fuel, the only real problem with it now is we make it from non-renewable oil.

There are other liquid fuels far easier to make than gasoline, and some have superior properties for most purposes also. Methanol can be made by fairly simple means from anything containing carbon. One advantage is that, being water-miscible, dispersing spills is extremely easy. Ethanol is even easier to make, from anything that contains any form of carbohydrate - including many things useless as foods.