Scientists have pre-created artificial photosynthesis methods for growing plants without sunlight, which could lead to new ways of growing food on Earth and perhaps someday on Mars.
After millions of years of evolution, photosynthesis has developed in plants as a way to convert energy from water, carbon dioxide and sunlight into plant biomass and the food we eat.
However, researchers, including researchers at the University of California, Riverside, said that this natural process is inefficient and that only about 1 pc of the energy found in sunlight reaches the plant. ..
They are currently evaluating ways to produce crops such as cowpea, tomato, tobacco, rice, canola and green peas that utilize carbon from acetate when grown in the dark.
“Imagine a giant ship that one day grows tomato plants in the dark and on Mars. How easy will it be for future Martians?” Director, Center for Plant Transformation Research, University of California, Riverside. Martha Orosco Cardenas said.
A new study published last week in the journal Nature Food reveals how scientists have found a way to use artificial photosynthesis to create sun-independent foods.
Researchers used a two-step chemical process to convert carbon dioxide, electricity, and water into acetate, one of the main components of vinegar.
Later, they said, food-producing organisms consumed acetate to grow in the dark.
Scientists use solar panels to generate electricity and power chemical reactions to increase the efficiency of converting solar into food and increase the efficiency of some foods by up to 18 times. Said that it can be done.
They used electrolyzers or devices that use electricity to convert raw materials such as carbon dioxide into useful molecules and products.
Scientists then optimized the output of the electrolytic cell to support the growth of food-producing organisms and integrated all the components of the system.
The new system allowed researchers to increase the amount of acetate while reducing the amount of salt, resulting in the highest levels of acetate ever produced in an electrolytic cell.
“Our approach sought to identify new ways to produce foods that could break the limits normally imposed by biological photosynthesis,” said Robert Zinkerson, a corresponding author at the University of California, Riverside, in a statement. I am.
“Using a state-of-the-art two-stage tandem CO2 electrolysis setup developed in our laboratory, we were able to achieve high selectivity for acetates not accessible by traditional CO2 electrolysis routes,” another. Research collaborator Feng Jiao said. -Author of Delaware University.
According to researchers, a variety of food-producing organisms, such as mushroom-producing green algae, yeast, and mycelium fungi, can grow directly in the dark with the power of an acetate-rich electrolytic cell.
They say that the production of algae using this technique is about 4 times more energy efficient than growing using traditional natural photosynthesis, and the production of yeast is about 18 times more efficient than normal cultivation methods. Said.
“We were able to grow food-producing organisms without the contribution of biological photosynthesis. Normally, these organisms are cultivated with plant-derived sugar or petroleum-derived inputs. It is the product of biological photosynthesis that took place millions of years ago, “said Elizabeth Han, co-lead author of the study.
“This technique is a more efficient way to convert solar energy into food than food production that relies on biological photosynthesis,” said Dr. Han.
Researchers have stated that various crops can take up the produced acetate and incorporate it into the major molecular building blocks needed for an organism to grow and prosper.
Scientists say that combining this approach with existing systems for producing energy from sunlight “can increase the efficiency of energy conversion from the sun to food by about four times” in natural photosynthesis. He added that the technology has made it possible to “rethink how to make food in a controlled manner.” environment”.
Scientists will be posed by the human-led climate crisis and the consequent food security challenges by releasing crops’ dependence on the sun and instead using artificial photosynthesis to produce crops. He said it could open the door to food production in difficult situations.
“Producing food using artificial photosynthesis approaches can be a paradigm shift in the way we feed people. Increasing the efficiency of food production reduces land needs and agriculture is the environment. It will have less impact on you, “says Dr. Zinkerson.
“And in agriculture in non-traditional environments like outer space, increased energy efficiency can help feed more crew with less input,” he added. ..