Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuels - Essay Example

Natural resources being utilized for energy production encompassing fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum and natural gas are limited and are going to exhaust soon, therefore, it becomes highly imperative to seek renewable resources. Photosynthesis is the process where plants utilize solar energy to synthesize sugar with the help of carbon-di-oxide and water. The process requires chlorophyll molecule and the enzyme RuBP carboxylase. The process is an anabolic process. Because solar energy is a renewable source of energy, available in plenty, does not have any side effects or emissions, and is not going to exhaust for another few million years, scientists are attempting to mimic the process of photosynthesis to generate energy.

Artificial photosynthesis was performed in Edinburgh, Scotland (September 2011) to get energy, to meet the escalating demand for energy (Styring, 2012). As photosynthesis is carried out in the plant cells it is difficult to meet the energy requirement of augmenting the population. Photovoltaic cells or PV cells or solar cells generate electricity using sunlight as the source of energy. These cells are made up of solar panels to trap solar energy and convert it into electric energy which is utilized for various energy-requiring processes.

The process is environmentally friendly but these solar panels have to be modified to generate a large amount of energy. Physicists are trying hard to utilize solar energy to its maximum and therefore solar plants are being encouraged where a large number of solar panels in wide areas are being affixed to trap maximum solar energy to generate electricity.