The words "Daily Mail" don't arouse a great deal of confidence. . What a quick Google shows it that Dr. Nocera claims that he has develped a fuel cell that can split water into hydrogen and oxygen with about 10% efficiency, cheaply, which would mean converting sunlight into on-demand electricity with 3% to 6% net efficiency. That would indeed be amazing. I'm not at all sure it is true, but if it were true there would be better ways to use that than generation at the single home level. In many, but not all, areas it would work quite well at the block or neighborhood level. I'm skeptical that is really as close to commercialization as though, let alone likely to be cheap. But not impossible, and it would be nice if true. At any rate if it can do what is claimed cheaply, we will be hearing more about it. Would not hold my breath in the meantime.
On Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 11:06 AM, Jim Devine <[email protected]> wrote: > >From SLATE: > Artificial "Leaf" Could Power a House > > Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say they've > developed an artificial leaf that produces energy ten times faster > than natural photosynthesis. Thinner than a playing card and made from > cheap materials, the leaf could create enough energy to heat one house > for one day, says the Daily Mail. Although a scientist named John > Turner created the first artificial energy producing leaf more than a > decade ago, the MIT researchers' model is smaller, more powerful, and > cheaper than Turner's template. Their success can be attributed to the > recent discovery of several powerful, inexpensive catalysts made of > nickel and cobalt. The Indian megafirm Tata Group has "forged a deal" > with the lead researcher "to build a small power plant, the size of a > refrigerator, in about a year and a half," writes Wired Science. > > Read original story in The Daily Mail > [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1370839/Scientists-Holy-Grail-science-mastermind-worlds-artificial-leaf.html > ] | Monday, March 28, 2011 > > -- > Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own > way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Facebook: Gar Lipow Twitter: GarLipow Grist Blog: http://www.grist.org/member/1598 Static page: http://www.nohairshirts.com _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
