One obstacle for fully utilizing renewable energy has been no efficient and cost effective means of storing the energy for later use. However, that obstacle has recently been hurdled by MIT scientists inspired by the photosynthesis performed by plants.
Daniel G. Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT, has developed a simple method to split water molecules and produce oxygen gas, a discovery that will pave the way for large-scale use of solar power. Later, the oxygen and hydrogen may be recombined inside a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricity to power your house or your electric car, day or night.
Nocera hopes that within 10 years, homeowners will be able to power their homes in daylight through photovoltaic cells, while using excess solar energy to produce hydrogen and oxygen to power their own household fuel cell. In one hour, enough sunlight strikes the Earth to provide the entire planet’s energy needs for one year. Therefore, sunlight has the greatest potential of any power source to solve the world’s energy problems, said Nocera.
