Science Daily May 23, 2019
At present, no existing technology provides large-scale storage and energy retrieval for sustainable energy at a low financial and environmental cost. According to a team of researchers in the US (Cornell University, industry) engineered electroactive microbes could address many of the limitations of current energy storage technologies by enabling rewired carbon fixation, a process that spatially separates reactions that are normally carried out together in a photosynthetic cell and replaces the least efficient with non-biological equivalents. If successful, this could allow storage of renewable electricity through electrochemical or enzymatic fixation of carbon dioxide and subsequent storage as carbon-based energy storage molecules including hydrocarbons and non-volatile polymers at high efficiency. The team has compiled performance data on biological and non-biological component choices for rewired carbon fixation systems and identified pressing research and engineering challenges…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE