The flow of solar energy to biofuel feedstock via photosynthesis

: Tikkanen M, Suorsa M, Aro EM

Publisher: INT SUGAR JOURNAL LTD

: 2009

: International Sugar Journal

: INTERNATIONAL SUGAR JOURNAL

: INT SUGAR J

: 111

: 1323

: 156

: 163

: 8

: 0020-8841

More than 80% of the energy required for running modern societies is produced by burning of fossil fuels. Although the stocks of oil, gas and coal are rapidly shrinking, even more alarming is that the massive burning of fossil fuels is releasing huge amounts of CO(2) to the atmosphere thereby warming up the climate and polluting human habitats. In order to make the economy and welfare sustainable, the fossil fuels must be replaced by carbon neutral, clean and endless energy sources. Both the fossil fuels and most of the renewable fuels are formed by plant and microbial photosynthesis that converts solar energy into chemical energy using water as a source of electrons. More than 2.5 billion years of photosynthesis has been required to accumulate the fossil energy stocks that we are using now. The idea of biofuels is to use online photosynthesis to satisfy the energy demands of human activities. However, the net productivity of world's vegetation is not high enough to substitute the fossil energy stocks and therefore more efficient innovations to harness solar energy by photosynthetic mechanisms are required. Moreover, it is crucial to find ways to make use of oceanic environments and deserts, which from one hand catch plenty of solar energy and from the other hand do not compete with food production. Here we give an overview of the reasons behind the limited capacity of the traditional biofuel feedstocks and illustrate possibilities to enhance the photosynthetic capture and storage of solar energy.