Could genetic modification yield limitless carbon free energy?
The technical approach is sound. I did some work on self-organizing systems at Cambridge University in the early 1990’s and obviously the science has advanced since then. I don’t foresee artificial plants becoming economically competitive with biological plants any time soon. Hydrogen is the primary product of photosynthesis in all plants and the chemical energy is rapidly converted to more stable chemical forms (mainly sugar). Biological plants have the problems of reproduction, growth, maintenance (enzymes degrade) and defense worked out. It would be more productive to introduce new pigments via genetic engineering into existing plants that extend the range of wavelengths they can use. All that being said, I think that research directed toward artificial plants is a splendid idea for the insights that it will provide into the function of biological plants. Regarding the energy question, ordinary biomass can be used to produce syn-gas which is easily converted into methanol with a cat
