Researchers at Berkeley Labs have achieved success in artificial photosynthesis with a system that is able to capture carbon dioxide emissions, powered by solar energy. The process is capable of converting the CO2 into chemical products including liquid fuels, biodegradable plastics and pharmaceutical drugs.

The research team at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have achieved success in creating a hybrid system of semiconducting nanowires and bacteria that work in a way similar to natural photosynthesis. The photosynthesis process is used by plants to synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water with the help of sunlight. The natural process helps reduce the carbon dioxide in the environment.

The artificial photosynthesis process could be a breakthrough in the field of climate change research. If with artificial photosynthesis process, we are able to reduce the carbon dioxide in the environment, the impact of greenhouse can could be reduce, thereby helping in reduce the impact of CO2 on climate change.

Peidong Yang, a chemist with Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division and one of the leaders of this study, said, "Our system has the potential to fundamentally change the chemical and oil industry in that we can produce chemicals and fuels in a totally renewable way, rather than extracting them from deep below the ground."

Yang was helped by chemists Christopher Chang and Michelle Chang from Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley.

Chris Chang informed, "In natural photosynthesis, leaves harvest solar energy and carbon dioxide is reduced and combined with water for the synthesis of molecular products that form biomass. In our system, nanowires harvest solar energy and deliver electrons to bacteria, where carbon dioxide is reduced and combined with water for the synthesis of a variety of targeted, value-added chemical products."