Potential Global Impact
Being a renewable and carbon-neutral source of solar fuels, producing either hydrogen or carbohydrates, artificial photosynthesis is set apart from other popular renewable energy sources, specifically hydroelectric, solar photovoltaic, geothermal, and wind — which produce electricity directly with no fuel intermediate. As such, artificial photosynthesis may become a very important source of fuel for transportation. Unlike biomass energy, it does not require arable land and, consequently, will not compete with the food supply.
At the fifteenth meeting of the International Congress of Photosynthesis Research (ISPR) in Beijing 27 August 2010, a proposal was made for a "macroscience" Global Artificial Photosynthesis (GAP) Project, with seven models being presented for evaluation. An international conference on the subject took place between the fourteenth and eighteenth of August 2011 at Lord Howe Island under the auspices of the UNESCO Natural Sciences Sector. The meeting featured presentations from both scientists and non-scientific members of the society from across the globe, such as Peidong Yang, Dan Nocera and Michael Kirby and the papers presented have now been edited for a special open-source edition of the Australian Journal of Chemistry. It has been argued that photosynthesis in its natural and artificial forms should be declared common heritage of humanity under international law and that global artificial photosynthesis should be considered the moral culmination of nanotechnology.
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