"Personal" solar energy will help meet world's energy needs, prof

Personal-scale solar energy is essential to meeting the world’s energy demands in the next century, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Daniel Nocera said in the latest issue of Inorganic Chemistry.

Nocera envisions a catalyst that could split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen; the hydrogen, in turn, would be used to generate electricity in a fuel cell. The process is not dissimilar to photosynthesis, the series of reactions by which plants generate energy.
Electricity demand will double by mid-century and triple by 2100, Nocera anticipates, necessitating new energy-generation technologies. Personal solar power could meet the world’s energy needs in a sustainable manner, he suggests.

“Point-of-use solar energy will put individuals … on a more level playing field,” he said.

Cooler Planet News