Reported on the kurzweilai.net website: Daniel Nocera, PhD and MIT chemist, announced the developement of the first practical artificial leaf, a solar cell the size of a poker card that imitates photosynthesis. He said, “A practical artificial leaf has been one of the Holy Grails of science for decades. We believe we have done it. The artificial leaf shows particular promise as an inexpensive source of electricity for homes of the poor in developing countries. Our goal is to make each home its own power station.”
The article said, "The device is made from silicon, electronics and catalysts. Placed in a single gallon of water in a bright sunlight, the device could produce enough electricity to supply a house in a developing country with electricity for a day. It does so by splitting water into its two components, hydrogen and oxygen. Notice it said: developing country. It wouldn't power an American home. But still, sounds very impressive. The technology will surely improve and get cheaper.
Our dependence on foreign oil has already been identified as a national security concern. Why aren't we putting the resources into energy research to get us off foreign oil? Actually, that's an easy one; it would cause some short-term pain and require an investment for the future and we don't seem to have stomach or the attention span to get behind it and make it happen.
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