Richard Branson's $25 million prize to save the planet!

[scott]

I think the answer will be found one day and it will be artificial photosynthesis. But the problem is complex. $25 million will be just a drop in the bucket of the total research dollars necessary to bring it to fruition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_photosynthesis

-Scott

[MrTim]

The thought of a genetically-engineered lifeform like that getting loose (no matter how benign it is claimed to be) scares me more than destroying the world through pollution....

[scott]

I'm not talking about genetically engineered life forms, Tim. I'm talking about replicating photosynthesis mechanically and chemically, i.e. artificially. If we could do that we could capture solar energy with near 100% efficiency and simultaneously remove atmospheric carbon, thereby solving 2 problems at once.

Photosynthesis should make any short-list of Nature’s spectacular accomplishments. Through the photosynthetic process, green plants and cyanobacteria are able to transfer energy from sunlight and initiate its conversion into chemical energy with an efficiency of nearly 100-percent. If we can learn to emulate Nature’s technique and create artificial versions of photosynthesis, then we, too, could effectively tap into the sun as a clean, efficient, sustainable and carbon-neutral source of energy for our technology.

“Nature has designed one of the most exquisitely effective systems for harvesting light, with the steps happening too fast for energy to be wasted as heat,� Fleming said. “Current solar power systems, however, aren’t following Nature’s model.�

Emulating natural photosynthesis will require a better understanding of how energy gets transferred from light-absorbing pigment molecules to the molecules that make up the energy-converting reaction centers. Since the extra energy being transferred from one molecule to the next changes the way each absorbs and emits light, the flow of energy can be followed through optical spectroscopy, resolved on a femtosecond timescale.

http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Arc ... nergy.html

[DrWhat]

I think there have been experiments with plankton which during photosynthesis absorb carbon dioxide. The sun is doing the work for us. According to reports this looks very promising. Adding urea increases growth and hence absorption of CO2. Don't know much more about it.

[rounder]

Well they are only talking about half the problem. go to google video and search GLOBAL DIMMING it seems to be much worse than we think. pollution vs. greenhouse gas

[Wheeler]

First claim for CO2 prize

http://environment.newscientist.com/cha ... prize.html