Sentences with phrase «natural photosynthesis»
"Natural photosynthesis" refers to the process by which plants and some bacteria convert sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water into energy through a chemical reaction. It is the natural way plants produce food and oxygen. Full definition
That is better than the efficiency of natural photosynthesis at converting water, sunlight and air into stored energy.
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The efficiency of natural photosynthesis is limited by light - absorbing pigments in plants or bacteria, he says.
«Knowing how this happens is important for understanding the design principles used in natural photosynthesis,» Yachandra says.
Natural photosynthesis uses light energy to split water into its constituent oxygen and hydrogen.
Although natural photosynthesis plays a vital role in absorbing and «fixing» carbon dioxide emitted from fossil fuel use, it has not prevented the net increase of this gas in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution.
Chemists from the Universities of Basel and Zurich in Switzerland have come one step closer to generating energy from sunlight: for the first time, they were able to reproduce one of the crucial phases of natural photosynthesis with artificial molecules.
Whereas natural photosynthesis, after multiple reactions, converts water, carbon dioxide and sunlight into oxygen and energy - rich fuels such as sugar, Meyer's version converts water and carbon dioxide into oxygen, hydrogen and carbon monoxide — and the latter can be combined with hydrogen to eventually make a fuel such as methanol.
The overall energy efficiency of solar - to - ethylene is also comparable to the level of energy efficiency of natural photosynthesis by plants.
A team of scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed a prototype device that mimics natural photosynthesis to produce ethylene gas using only sunlight, water and carbon dioxide.
Mulfort's work builds upon knowledge of the protein reaction center structures that accomplish natural photosynthesis.
«That's a rate that is comparable to the rate of this reaction in natural photosynthesis, per catalytic site,» Concepcion said.
Different strategies emerged during the evolution of natural photosynthesis to collect light in antenna systems and to guide it into the reaction center.
This is a schematic of a solar - powered electrolysis cell which converts carbon dioxide into hydrocarbon and oxygenate products with an efficiency far higher than natural photosynthesis.
Excitons are valuable in both natural photosynthesis and research efforts to duplicate the process, because they can carry energy from one molecule to another, energy that can ultimately be using to power the movement of electrons.
«The natural photosynthesis catalyst has four metal centres and ours only has one,» he explained.
Schematic of a solar - powered electrolysis cell which converts carbon dioxide into hydrocarbon and oxygenate products with an efficiency far higher than natural photosynthesis.
«It splits water with 12.5 % efficiency, which is more than 10 times the efficiency of natural photosynthesis,» explained Gray, «but it doesn't contain Earth - abundant materials, it can't be scaled up and it's extremely expensive.»
Biofuels is a category where you're either taking natural photosynthesis or modifying natural photosynthesis to get much higher efficiencies, and there's quite a few, you know: trees, grasses, algae.
Making fuel de novo from CO2 and water will likely never be more efficient than natural photosynthesis, so what will really be fueling our vehicles will be whatever energy source they use to force CO2 and water to make hydrocarbons — nuclear or solar.
«Natural photosynthesis, depending how you calculate it, has an efficiency of about 0.6 percent.»
«In natural photosynthesis, leaves harvest solar energy and carbon dioxide is reduced and combined with water for the synthesis of molecular products that form biomass,» says Chris Chang, an expert in catalysts for carbon - neutral energy conversions.
Natural photosynthesis has been around for billions of years, but it's not very efficient at turning sunlight into energy - dense chemicals we can use for fuel.
Schematic of a solar - powered electrolysis cell which converts carbon dioxide into hydrocarbon and oxygenate products with an efficiency far higher than natural photosynthesis.
The goal is an artificial photosynthesis system that's at least 10 times more efficient than natural photosynthesis.