Tobacco plants could help wean the world from fossil fuels, according to scientists from the University of California, Berkeley.
In a paper in the journal ACS Nano Letters, UC Berkeley Assistant Chemistry Professor Matt Francis and his colleagues used tobacco plants, infected with a genetically engineered virus, to produce artificial photovoltaic and photochemical cells. The technique is more environmentally friendly than traditional methods of making solar cells and could lead to cheap, temporary and biodegradable solar cells.
"Over billions of years, evolution has established exactly the right distances to collect light from the sun and to do so with unparalleled efficiency," said Francis. "We are just trying to mimic these finely tuned systems."...
Plants are already very efficient at turning the sunlight into sugar and other forms of chemical energy. The UCB scientists could eventually use the electrons to generate chemical energy like plants, but instead of creating sugar, they would create hydrocarbons that could power cars or aircraft. A photochemical cell is one use for the new technology. A photovoltaic cell, that converts sunlight into electricity, is another possibility.
It will likely be years before any consumer devices use the natural, yet synthetic, solar cells, says Francis. The scientists haven't even demonstrated that the cells can turn light into electrical or chemical energy yet. But they hope to do soon
