Tiny green machines
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Gabriella Bocchetti, ©University of Cambridge
lthough we can now produce green electricity we are still searching for sustainable ways to generate new chemicals and fuels. The Zhang group is looking for inspiration from the green life all around us that reaps the benefits of the sun. Specifically, the most abundant lifeform on the planet: cyanobacteria.
Dr Jenny Zhang and Dr Xiaolong Chen examine the structure of the nanoskyscapers.
Biofuel Land Tussle
bacteria is the great ancestor of chloroplasts that turn light into energy and make plants green. They are 3.5 million years old, and even contributed to the oxygen atmosphere we rely on today.
Many fuel sources rely on mining, which can seriously damage ecosystems and rely on exploitative labour practices. Additionally, other common energy sources such as batteries employ the use of rare transition metal catalysts which are expensive and finite. Finding sustainable alternatives is essential.
When cyanobacteria have both sunlight and moisture, they produce electrons. Her team created a prototype solarpowered electron pump that, when flooded with light, produces a flow of electrons. Dr Jenny Zhang is bringing these marine-born organisms into the lab and figuring out the most efficient way to incorporate photosynthesis for electron and fuel generation.
Biofuels have some advantages; they can be grown quickly, are low tech, and can be grown in abundance. . There are still limitations though. Biofuels made from crops, such as sugar beet and wheat, compete with farming land and reduce diverse ecosystems.
If you zoom in on a plant, it uses the energy from sunlight to rip electrons from water. These electrons then travel around the plant to create sugars. The latest prototype from the
Therefore, Zhang looked to the oceans for a solution and found cyanobacteria. Known as blue green algae, these
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