(April 25, 2015) The
global industrial sector accounts for more than half of the total energy used
every year. Now scientists are inventing a new artificial photosynthetic system
that could one day reduce industry’s dependence on fossil fuel-derived energy
by powering part of the sector with solar energy and bacteria. In the ACS
journal Nano Letters, they describe a novel system that converts light and carbon
dioxide into building blocks for plastics, pharmaceuticals and fuels — all
without electricity.