The world scientific community has long been searching for a way to create unlimited energy. From moon crystals to physics-defying molecules, forces were everywhere. But now researchers may have found a way to create artificial photosynthesis to take advantage of the way plants produce energy and apply it to themselves.

This process was discovered in a groundbreaking new study in which scientists successfully mimicked the natural photosynthesis process for methane. This energy-dense fuel requires only water, carbon dioxide and sunlight.

The researchers summarized the new discovery in a new paper published in the journal ACS Engineering. If scaled up, this new process could allow artificial photosynthesis to replace solar panels as the main source of unlimited, clean energy that many have struggled to find for decades.

Kazunari Domen led a team of engineers, and they were able to go even further by developing a system that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using sunlight. They next hoped to develop the process to more closely mimic the system’s use by plants, absorbing carbon dioxide and storing solar energy in methane, essentially functioning as an artificial version of photosynthesis.

This system is very similar to solar cells. But instead of just using and storing solar energy, they used the photosynthesis system that plants still use to produce stored energy. Of course, scaling the system to meet the city’s needs is more challenging, and an article written by the team discusses these obstacles and possible solutions.

Since the system uses methane to store solar energy, creating a leak-free system is critical. If the system is truly allowed to run its course, it will only contribute to the release of greenhouse gases that have in the past threatened to overwhelm our planet, contributing significantly to climate change and global warming. Source