Scientists are developing artificial photosynthesis to make food production more energy-efficient on Earth, and hope the technology could one day be used on Mars. Photosynthesis has evolved in plants over millions of years, converting water, carbon dioxide and energy from sunlight into plant biomass and the food we eat. This process is very inefficient, and the energy that ends up entering the plant is only about 1% of the energy of sunlight. Scientists at UC Riverside and the University of Delaware have found a way to bypass biological photosynthesis entirely and instead rely on sunlight to make food through artificial photosynthesis. The study , published in the journal Nature Food, used a two-step electrocatalytic process to convert carbon dioxide, electricity and water into acetate, the main component of vinegar. The food-producing organisms then consume acetate in the dark to grow. Using solar panels to generate electricity to power electrocatalysis, this hybrid organic-inorganic system increases the efficiency of sunlight-to-food conversion by as much as 18 times for some foods.
Experiments have shown that many food-producing organisms can grow in the dark, directly in acetate-rich electrolyzers, including algae, yeast and mushroom-producing fungal mycelium. The energy efficiency of producing algae with this technique is about four times that of photosynthetic growth. The energy efficiency of yeast production is about 18 times higher than the commonly used method of sugar extraction from corn seeds. Man-made climate change has led to deteriorating food production conditions, and artificial photosynthesis has freed agriculture from complete dependence on the sun, opening up countless possibilities for growing food under these conditions. If crops for human or animal consumption are grown in less resource-dense, controlled environments, droughts, floods, and reductions in available agricultural land pose less of a threat to global food security. Crops could also be grown in cities and other areas currently unsuitable for agriculture, and even provide food for future space explorers.
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