[HN Gopher] Scientists Develop Artificial Leaf, Uses Sunlight to...
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       Scientists Develop Artificial Leaf, Uses Sunlight to Produce
       Valuable Chemicals
        
       Author : gnabgib
       Score  : 18 points
       Date   : 2025-04-24 22:10 UTC (49 minutes ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (newscenter.lbl.gov)
 (TXT) w3m dump (newscenter.lbl.gov)
        
       | changoplatanero wrote:
       | Something I'm curious to know: How does the efficiency of this
       | new process compare to using regular solar panels to generate
       | electricity and then using that electrical energy to synthesize
       | the same chemicals?
        
         | bognition wrote:
         | Efficiency is likely much lower than solar panels, however,
         | solar panels are expensive and complicated (chemically) to
         | manufacture. Teaching plans to make stuff for us is a better
         | long term solution as we can just grow the plants.
        
           | turtlebits wrote:
           | What? Solar panels are cheap and little to no maintenance.
           | Even though wildly inefficient, I opted to heat water using
           | PV instead of a solar hot water because of how low complexity
           | it is.
           | 
           | Also, nowhere in the article does it mention growing these
           | artificial leaves, they probably need to be manufactured.
        
             | pfdietz wrote:
             | I roll my eyes at these "artificial leaf" claims for just
             | the reason you've identified.
        
       | rsoto2 wrote:
       | I'm in my early thirties and I feel like i've heard about an
       | "artificial leaf" every five years for the last fifteen.
       | 
       | We have leaves. Can scientists invent something to help us
       | convince politicians to actually give a shit about saving the
       | planet we depend on.
        
         | Arkhadia wrote:
         | I think the reality is there is no saving anything. Only
         | surviving as long as we can. Why dump billions into an
         | impossible goal of saving when we could invest in survival? I
         | hope I'm wrong but anyone that knows anything about investments
         | knows that there's a point where you need to cut your losses
        
           | doctorwho42 wrote:
           | The system of economics that we use is quite new on the
           | historical scale, using it in your argument to say that
           | saving earth based life (which we are apart of) is not
           | financially viable is the most absurd thing in modern
           | society. Without the ecosphere, the economic system ceases to
           | exist... So by the very definition, it is the utmost
           | important and therefore not only viable but absolutely
           | necessary.
        
       | tcdent wrote:
       | In the next couple years we'll be modifying and creating
       | biological structures that perform these functions.
       | 
       | Building it by mechanically manipulating inert materials feels so
       | 1950s.
        
         | jfengel wrote:
         | Biology is stunningly efficient, but it's hard to optimize
         | further. To get really high yields you usually need industrial
         | processes.
        
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       (page generated 2025-04-24 23:00 UTC)