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ScienceIsSexy420 t1_jacfutf wrote

Reply to comment by A_Meal_of_Pain in ELI5: What's hard about copying photosynthesis or just using plants for power by No_Dust_5360

This question is about replacing photovoltaic cells with photosynthesis as a means of generating electric currents. They're not asking about combusting plans to generate electricity

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kinyutaka t1_jaciiuk wrote

The point he was trying to make with his answer is that burning plant material (wood) or fossil material (coal) is the most efficient way of getting the energy out of a plant.

It is dirty and bad for the environment, but it is efficient.

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ScienceIsSexy420 t1_jacivow wrote

But that's not what the question was asking about. The question was asking about utilizing the chemistry of photosynthesis for a new generation of photoelectric cells, which is both more efficient than burning fossil fuels as well as being better for the environment. This is an area of active and ongoing research, and shouldn't be dismissed by simply saying " burning fossil fuels is better"

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kinyutaka t1_jacjkms wrote

We can and probably are trying that very thing, but the way plants do it creates sugars and fibers, not creating free electrons.

It's just not something that we can replicate completely for our purposes.

One thing we might be able to do is capture the carbon emissions from burning plant material, like sugars, then use the CO2 from those emissions to feed a new generation of photoelectric cells. There would probably be loses in the system, but...

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ScienceIsSexy420 t1_jack1ov wrote

Photosynthesis does indeed generate free electrons, these electrons are used to power redox reactions which are used to synthesize starches. This is indeed an area of ongoing research, one of the professors at the institution I just graduated from was focusing his research on this very topic. Both plants and animals generate free electrons during metabolism, and use these electrons to do things. Harvesting the electrons is quite feasible

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kinyutaka t1_jack5sx wrote

Harvesting the electrons might be feasible, but is it efficient enough for our purposes?

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ScienceIsSexy420 t1_jackcdp wrote

As per my understanding, it is continuously harvesting those free electrons that is the limit of our ability and the focus of the current Research into the topic. Currently no, the materials that we use to harvest the energy generated do not have the lifespan to be of significant use. But the point is that this is a goal worth pursuing further

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kinyutaka t1_jaclj18 wrote

I am not trying to say that it isn't worth trying. Only that it is clearly not good enough for mass market.

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