video: Adoption of sustainable energy sources helps to reduce CO2 emissions and lessen society's impact on the environment. Scientists have been working to develop a new sustainable energy source inspired by plants, which produce energy from sunlight through a process known as photosynthesis. The featured technology, called "artificial photosynthesis", utilizes sunlight to harvest hydrogen from water. Hydrogen, in turn, offers an effective medium for storing energy, and it emits no greenhouse gases during conversion.
Associate Professor Kazuhiko Maeda of the School of Science developed an innovative mixed anion compound photocatalyst, which allows for efficient artificial photosynthesis using visible light.
Credit: Tokyo Institute of Technology