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MIT's artificial leaf is ten times more efficient than the real thing (Wired UK)

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41–50 of 66 posts

Re: MIT's artificial leaf is ten times more efficient than the real thing (Wired UK)

#41
post #23
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I won't upvote GP because it contains a factual error and you can't upvote only parts of a comment. If it was edited to include a note about the mistake, thus dismissing the error, I'm sure it'll get get some votes.

I'm not saying upvote incorrect comments, but there is a place inbetween punishing and rewarding.

I sometimes vote such comments towards one, especially if they're only one vote away.

Re: MIT's artificial leaf is ten times more efficient than the real thing (Wired UK)

#42

Provide every house on the planet with an artificial leaf and we could satisfy our 14 terrawatt need with just one gallon of water a day. One gallon of water a day, in case we are talking about freshwater, is waaaay to much. In case you haven't noticed, there are regions in this world with a freshwater deficiency (precisely those third world countries which would benefit from something like this), and one gallon of w…

> One gallon of water a day, in case we are talking about freshwater, is waaaay to much.

I wonder if there's any reason why it couldn't use saltwater? I guess it's possible that the salts would cause trouble or clog things up, but...

Re: MIT's artificial leaf is ten times more efficient than the real thing (Wired UK)

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Engineering beats evolution, every time.

Horses for courses, and all that.

Well, it's not just a difference in optimization goals; it's a difference in methodology.

Evolution optimizes by using heuristics and stochastic search--piling crap on top of crap, and obfuscating into oblivion.

Engineering optimizes by finding elegant mathematical solutions.

Sorry, getting off-topic. I guess I'm just bitter about not being a robot.

Re: MIT's artificial leaf is ten times more efficient than the real thing (Wired UK)

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Horses for courses, and all that.

Well, it's not just a difference in optimization goals; it's a difference in methodology. Evolution optimizes by using heuristics and stochastic search--piling crap on top of crap, and obfuscating into oblivion. Engineering optimizes by finding elegant mathematical solutions. Sorry, getting off-topic. I guess I'm just bitter about not being a robot.

Evolution "optimizes" for a lot more constraints. It needs to be self-healing, and work for a long time without any outside maintenance and monitoring. It collects its own energy, and competes with (unpredictable) other organisms for nutrients and sunlight.

Good luck engineering a system like that. Elegant mathematical solutions are great, but only exist for limited, well-defined problems.

Re: MIT's artificial leaf is ten times more efficient than the real thing (Wired UK)

#45

Provide every house on the planet with an artificial leaf and we could satisfy our 14 terrawatt need with just one gallon of water a day. One gallon of water a day, in case we are talking about freshwater, is waaaay to much. In case you haven't noticed, there are regions in this world with a freshwater deficiency (precisely those third world countries which would benefit from something like this), and one gallon of w…

Maybe it's possible to make this a closed circuit by channeling the "burnt" water back into the solar cell. This way, the daily water consumption could be brought down to (almost) zero.

I guess that this would need distilled water anyway.

Re: MIT's artificial leaf is ten times more efficient than the real thing (Wired UK)

#46
post #45

Provide every house on the planet with an artificial leaf and we could satisfy our 14 terrawatt need with just one gallon of water a day. One gallon of water a day, in case we are talking about freshwater, is waaaay to much. In case you haven't noticed, there are regions in this world with a freshwater deficiency (precisely those third world countries which would benefit from something like this), and one gallon of w…

Maybe it's possible to make this a closed circuit by channeling the "burnt" water back into the solar cell. This way, the daily water consumption could be brought down to (almost) zero. I guess that this would need distilled water anyway.

[deleted]

Re: MIT's artificial leaf is ten times more efficient than the real thing (Wired UK)

#47

Provide every house on the planet with an artificial leaf and we could satisfy our 14 terrawatt need with just one gallon of water a day. One gallon of water a day, in case we are talking about freshwater, is waaaay to much. In case you haven't noticed, there are regions in this world with a freshwater deficiency (precisely those third world countries which would benefit from something like this), and one gallon of w…

It is pretty easy to make a solar still with an old tin can and some plastic sheeting or surplus window glass.

Re: MIT's artificial leaf is ten times more efficient than the real thing (Wired UK)

#48
post #20
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solar panels are already good enough that they are used in developed countries such as USA and UK. Are they perfect? No, they cost too much, and they don't generate enough electricity, but they are used none-the-less. By the sound of it, this new creation would be more efficient, either in price, electricity generation, or both, than traditional solar panels - if that wasn't the case, why on earth would any project u…

>>Solar panels are already good enough that they are used in developed countries such as USA and UK. Are they perfect? No, they cost too much, and they don't generate enough electricity, but they are used none-the-less. Does no one follow energy news, except for oil prices and the Polywell project?! :-) Many estimates talk about soon reaching "grid parity" in large parts of the world. If this leaf isn't good enough,…

BTW one reason that Grid Parity is a moving target is that one of the input costs to making solar power is energy. When energy (hydrocarbon fuel) becomes more expensive, instead of making solar power cheaper in comparison, it has no real effect.

Instead, regular power becomes more expensive, which makes building solar power also more expensive, and the net result is a wash.

Re: MIT's artificial leaf is ten times more efficient than the real thing (Wired UK)

#49

Provide every house on the planet with an artificial leaf and we could satisfy our 14 terrawatt need with just one gallon of water a day. One gallon of water a day, in case we are talking about freshwater, is waaaay to much. In case you haven't noticed, there are regions in this world with a freshwater deficiency (precisely those third world countries which would benefit from something like this), and one gallon of w…

This fact concerned me, especially when they suggested using this in India. 80% of Indians currently rely on a finite subterranean water supply. When this runs out, this will pose a very serious humanitarian problem. I'm hoping the technology they mention can be used or adapted to use sea water.
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