Comparing Photosynthetic and Photovoltaic Efficiencies and Recognizing the Potential for Improvement

Author:

Blankenship Robert E.1,Tiede David M.2,Barber James3,Brudvig Gary W.4,Fleming Graham5,Ghirardi Maria6,Gunner M. R.7,Junge Wolfgang8,Kramer David M.9,Melis Anastasios10,Moore Thomas A.11,Moser Christopher C.12,Nocera Daniel G.13,Nozik Arthur J.14,Ort Donald R.15,Parson William W.16,Prince Roger C.17,Sayre Richard T.18

Affiliation:

1. Departments of Biology and Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.

2. Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA.

3. Division of Molecular Biosciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK; Department of Material Sciences and Engineering, Polytechnic of Turin, 10129 Turin, Italy.

4. Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520–8107, USA.

5. Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, and Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

6. Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA.

7. Department of Physics, City College of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA.

8. Division of Biophysics, University of Osnabrück, D-49069 Osnabrück, Germany.

9. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and DOE-Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.

10. Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720–3102, USA.

11. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287–1604, USA.

12. Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.

13. Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139–4307, USA.

14. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.

15. U.S. Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service, Photosynthesis Research Unit, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.

16. Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

17. ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Annandale, NJ 08801, USA.

18. Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, MO 63132, USA.

Abstract

Comparing photosynthetic and photovoltaic efficiencies is not a simple issue. Although both processes harvest the energy in sunlight, they operate in distinctly different ways and produce different types of products: biomass or chemical fuels in the case of natural photosynthesis and nonstored electrical current in the case of photovoltaics. In order to find common ground for evaluating energy-conversion efficiency, we compare natural photosynthesis with present technologies for photovoltaic-driven electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen. Photovoltaic-driven electrolysis is the more efficient process when measured on an annual basis, yet short-term yields for photosynthetic conversion under optimal conditions come within a factor of 2 or 3 of the photovoltaic benchmark. We consider opportunities in which the frontiers of synthetic biology might be used to enhance natural photosynthesis for improved solar energy conversion efficiency.

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Subject

Multidisciplinary

Reference65 articles.

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5. Committee on America’s Future America’s Energy Future: Technology and Transformation: Summary Edition (National Academy Press Washington DC 2009).

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