Photosynthesis to Clean Development Mechanism

I had this brainwave which lead me to do bit of a research on Internet, which threw some very interesting information on the subject I was thinking about. Here you go...

Well, energy is a big concern these days, and so is pollution, and global warming. From my elementary chemistry I remembered that photosynthesis converts carbon dioxide to oxygen by using sunlight. So I thought why is there no mechanism where we can artificially simulate this process - it would generate electricity (since sunlight must be getting converted to energy for enabling whatever chemical reaction had to take place to convert CO2 to O2), and also reduce carbon dioxide from environment!

So began my interesting journey to find out if there is something that is being done on this topic - and interestingly yes, some work is being done on this specially by group of scientists in Australia, and US. Apparently it is a difficult task to achieve the efficiencies as achieved by trees, and scientists are trying to figure out how they can make 'artificial photosynthesis' more efficient to make it an industrially viable option. This book is a very informative if you would like to read more on this topic - 'Artificial Photosynthesis - From Basic Biology to Industrial Application'.

This search took me to another area - Carbon Collection & Storage (CCS). Now that artificial photosynthesis is not going to happen in a hurry, CCS seems to be an attractive option. This technology is particularly useful for large scale stationary sources of CO2, such as power plants, cement plants etc, and this involves first separating CO2 from emitted gases, capturing it, and then storing it in heavily pressurized format in geographic locations, or in sea from where it can not escape. The technology to do all of the above is available, but is costly (as of now) and adds to per-unit of electricity. That is why power plants are reluctant to install the technology.

Here comes Clean Development Mechanism, or CDM in short, which is a result of Kyoto protocol and essentially translates into this - developed nations that can not cut CO2 emissions themselves pay for projects being set up in developing nations to cut CO2 by using advanced technology. The companies which set up these CDM approved projects get carbon credits, which are then traded in open market and are bought by the companies in developed world.

Currently CCS is not covered under CDM, but is expected to be added to the list of approved technologies by end of 2008. Now here's the idea - form an organization which would have consultants on board who would get trained on CCS and CDM in next one year, and then take the plunge when the time comes, or maybe even earlier with consulting projects on other approved technologies and project types. Yes, there are companies already operating in this space (CDM that is) - but the pie is too big and is going to get bigger only, and can accommodate many more players. Interested? If yes, let's forge ahead!!