In a podcast on MIT World, Daniel Nocera talks about how the world is at risk of repeating past mistakes in its search for energy. He uses a simple calculation involving population growth, GDP per capita and energy intensity to show that "the world is rapidly moving from its energy consumption of 12.8 terawatts per year, to 28 terawatts by 2050", and that we can't possibly meet demand from that trajectory using fossil-based fuels: even if there is enough oil, methane and coal to last a while, "the CO2 we’re emitting may choke off our current way of life long before the end of the fuel".
He argues that there's not enough room for biomass to be the solution, and even nuclear energy wouldn't meet demand. The answer? Nocera suggests emulating photosynthesis:
Scientists are racing to design structures that can catch light the way a leaf does, then capture the energy of this light using chemical bonds, and then somehow store this energy. Some researchers are focusing on photobiological water splitting. Nocera’s group is working “on a wireless current, an artificial leaf.” While the goal “is to see what nature’s structures tell you,” Nocera acknowledges that “if you try to place what’s in nature in a beaker, it probably won’t work.”
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