WASHINGTON: A new bionic leaf could soon allow the manufacture of environmentally-friendly fuels through the use of bacteria, similar to methods employed by plants. Vegetation around the world harvests sunlight, allowing the life forms to process water and components in the atmosphere into food, supplying their life processes.
Harvard University researchers have now developed a new system which utilizes a type of bacteria to convert solar radiation into a form of liquid fuel, which could be used to power motor vehicles.
Photovoltaic cells can already be used to produce hydrogen, which can be stored in fuel cells, and later used to power vehicles. However, hydrogen fuel cells have not yet gained mainstream acceptance anywhere in the world, limiting the usefulness of the technology.
An artificial leaf was previously developed by Daniel Nocera of Harvard University, who also participated in the new project. The new bionic leaf uses some of the technology developed during that earlier research, which also inspired the name.
