Taking a Leaf out of Nature’s Book

Mimicking photosynthesis may be the key to unlocking a future energy scene dominated by renewables. But nature’s simple process still holds many secrets. In light of the high-level Cefic breakfast debate on advanced materials and energy challenges that took place at the 7th European Innovation Summit, we asked science writer Ben Skuse to delve into how breakthroughs in materials may help resign fossil fuels to the past through the development of novel technologies and perhaps – eventually – artificial leaves.

The development of novel processes using waste carbon dioxide - up to and including the ultimate goal of artificial photosynthesis - feature in the SusChem Innovation and Research Agenda. 


Photosynthesis is a wonder of nature. It transforms energy from the light that the Sun bathes the Earth in to energy‐rich sugars. Simply put, it takes carbon dioxide and water, and converts them to glucose and oxygen.

There are two stages to this process. The first – water splitting – converts water into oxygen and a protein. In the next step, the protein reacts with CO2 to produce biomass. So far, scientists have only managed to master the former, splitting water using electrolytic processes to create hydrogen gas instead of biomass. But even on its own this feat was a huge achievement, paving the way for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles being actively commercialised today by the likes of Daimler and Toyota, and for the power industry taking hydrogen energy storage seriously as an option to deal with intermittent renewable power generation.

Hydrogen has some limitations
While hydrogen has one of the highest energy densities of any fuel, it is also the lightest of all elements. This means its storage requires very large volumes or very high pressures, resulting in issues of safety. Furthermore, the high cost of developing infrastructure and the energy intensity of the water splitting process offer sceptics a strong argument that hydrogen may not be the future for energy storage or the automotive industry.

“Hydrogen has some limitations,” confirms Sophie Wilmet, Cefic Innovation Manager. Sophie believes CO2 conversion technologies might provide a good alternative for large-scale storage of renewable energy using existing infrastructure. “CO2 can be used to address the energy storage challenge brought about by the rise in renewables, as well as for alternative fuels for transport.”

Carbon as a resource
Although not using direct photoconversion of CO2, a number of technologies are being actively explored to transform CO2 from a reviled waste product to a useful resource, as Sophie explains: “From CO2 you can produce basic and added-value chemicals”.

For example, a process co-developed by RWTH Aachen University and Covestro, formerly Bayer MaterialScience, has led to the construction of a plant that will be opened in 2016 in Dormagen, Germany, capable of producing up to 5000 metric tons per year of polyols, a polyurethane intermediate. About 20% of the content of the polyols will be from waste CO2 captured from a nearby ammonia plant, with the final material a flexible foam for mattresses.

Another innovator is Icelandic company Carbon Recycling International (CRI), whose renewable methanol reduces carbon emissions by more than 90% compared to fossil fuels. The fuel is produced from CO2 and hydrogen that comes from renewable sources of electricity. The world's first liquid renewable transport fuel production facility from non-biological sources of energy, CRI has a 4000 metric ton per year production capacity.

Further novel ideas include using large volumes of waste CO2 from industrial processes to produce syngas (BASF);  converting waste gases from iron and steel mills into ethanol and other important chemicals, such as acetic acid, acetone, isopropanol, n-butanol or 2,3 butanediol (Siemens/LanzaTech); and creating a closed carbon cycle using renewable energy, CO2 and water to provide sustainable fuels for vehicles and decentralised electricity generation (sunfire).

Mimicking nature
Capable of absorbing CO2 at the very low concentrations (400 parts per million) found in the air, absorbing energy from low-photon count sunlight, and photosynthetic cell self-repair, the ‘technology’ within plants is far more advanced than anything devised by humankind so far.
However, with aeons to perfect the technique, it comes as something of a surprise that energy conversion in plants is not actually particularly efficient: “For most plants the photosynthetic and storage efficiency is an average of 1%,” explains Dr Junwang Tang, Reader in Energy from University College London, UK.  Why is photosynthesis so inefficient? “The natural process is capable of utilising 100% of photons but green plants give up that potential to protect themselves – nature doesn’t need so much energy.”

As a result, if society were to mimic photosynthesis unaltered, there would not be enough land on Earth to cycle the carbon required for a sustainable future. Instead, researchers are aiming to enhance the process from a number of angles. “We have learnt how nature stores CO2 and we have realised that we can probably do better,” exclaims Junwang.

Direct photoconversion
A major roadblock in developing such technology is finding photocatalysts that can absorb as much of the solar spectrum as possible while still being efficient. As plants only use a fraction of the visible range, great potential lies in the untapped electromagnetic spectrum, so photocatalysts that respond to different regions are being investigated. Other researchers are exploring doping, nanomaterials and co-catalyst surface-loading to improve the photocatalytic response of promising materials.

However, with numerous other hurdles to climb before real-world application, Sophie expects there to be a long wait before artificial leaves are realised: “It still requires development in terms of new concepts, designs of photoelectrodes and integration of the system,” she explains. “For Cefic, it’s part of our overall long-term strategy, but more like a second- or third-generation technology that will not have impact by 2020.”

Even though tangible impact from direct photoconversion seems a long way off, Europe’s competitors are keen to advance the state of the art now, with a number of multi-million Euro projects funded in Japan, a Joint Centre for Artificial Photosynthesis set up in the US and well-funded initiatives in many other parts of the world.

As a result, Junwang believes Europe’s highly able yet currently fragmented and small community of scientists working in the area needs to be brought together: “Europe is very strong in fundamental understanding of artificial and natural photosynthesis, but countries like Japan, USA and China are investing heavily in this technology through well-funded projects. If we don’t invest more – just like has happened with graphene – other countries will heavily patent the field.”

The Cefic breakfast debate
The Cefic breakfast debate took place at the 7th European Innovation Summit in the European Parliament on 8 December. The event was hosted by Jerzy Buzek, MEP and covered the wide-ranging topic of 'Advanced Materials and breakthrough opportunities for the energy transition’.

SusChem: Moving on Mobility!

Today (16 September) the EU-wide celebrations for EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK launched at the European Parliament in Brussels. The 2015 EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK launch focused on encouraging cycle commuting and integrating cycling in multimodal travel with the motto: ‘Choose. Change. Combine.’ The full week presents a wide range of sustainable mobility alternatives to citizens, explains the challenges that cities and towns are facing to induce behavioural change and make progress towards creating a more sustainable transport strategy for Europe.

Mobility is clearly one of the major challenges facing our urban areas today. And it is an area where SusChem and sustainable chemistry is contributing. SusChem’s recent Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda has a dedicated chapter on Smart, Green and Integrated Transport covering many innovations that are vital to achieving more sustainable mobility.

Chemistry contributions
Electric mobility must play an important role in the future and chemistry already offers numerous products and solutions in this area. The battery is the key component in electric vehicles and chemistry can make this technology more affordable, powerful and secure with the aim of increasing the range of vehicles.

In addition, lightweight design of vehicles is important. If the weight of a vehicle drops, its range can increase and / or it will use less energy. The chemical industry offers tailor-made polymers for many different applications from vehicle bodies to the engine compartment. Vehicles can be designed using recyclable materials, such as bio- and smart-materials, that can ensure vehicles do not become waste at the end of their useful life.  And new tyre concepts can reduce rolling resistance and extend range.

Managing energy in vehicles is important for efficiency especially for electric vehicles. In summer, air conditioning consumes additional energy, while in winter good insulation is important. In contrast to internal combustion engines the electric motor produces nearly no ‘waste’ heat. Chemical products can help here: special pigments applied on the windows reduce the warming of the interior in the sun, while high-performance foams offer perfect insulation in the winter.

If the internal combustion engine remains a significant propulsion source in vehicles in the short to medium term, sustainable chemistry will help through new catalytic exhaust gas treatments to remove organic compounds and fine particles. And fossil fuels can be substituted by synthetic fuels made, for example, by the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) with solar energy or by fuels made from renewable (biomass) sources. Hydrogen produced efficiently from renewable sources is also a potential emission-free alternative to fossils fuels.

Smart mobility – sustainable solutions
The free movement of people and products is an essential element of our modern urban environment. However mobility comes at a cost: the consumption of a vast amount of energy (30% of the total energy consumed in the EU).

And with energy consumption – especially energy derived from fossil fuels – comes pollution. Mobility contributes considerably to CO2 emissions as well as other pollutants such as nitrogen oxides or small particles. Urban mobility accounts for some 40% of all CO2 emissions by road transport and up to 70% of other pollutants generated by transport.

Some of the solutions that sustainable chemistry can provide to meet the mobility challenge for Smart Cities and help stem urban air pollution are described above. But you can find much more information and ideas on mobility issues and sustainable chemistry solutions from SusChem, especially in the context of urban environments, at the resources outlined below.

SusChem is heavily involved with the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Smart Cities and Communities and you can download our Smart Cities Brochure. Mobility and Smart City solutions are also featured on our dedicated Smart Cities mobility page and the Innovation for Growth website.

What is European Mobility Week?
EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK is an annual campaign on sustainable urban mobility supported by the European Commission’s directorates for Energy and Transport. The aim of the campaign is to encourage European local authorities to introduce and promote sustainable transport measures.

The week runs from 16 to 22 September every year and sees events taking place across Europe and globally. ‘Choose. Change. Combine’ is the motto for 2015 and embracing multimodality is the main theme of the week. The aim is to encourage people to think about the range of transport options available, to choose the right mode when travelling, and inviting people to combine ways of getting around, which can often lead to a quicker and more pleasant journey.

Since 2002 EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK has sought to influence mobility and urban transport issues, as well as improve the health and quality of life of citizens. The campaign also gives citizens the chance to explore what the role of city streets really is, and to explore concrete solutions to tackle urban challenges, such as air pollution.

To discover more about how participating cities have used the campaign to enhance their sustainable transport policies, visit the best practice guides.

R4R Fuel Cell Conference in Szczecin

A conference on 'Fuel cells – energy and transportation – design, prototyping, implementation' is to be held in Szczecin, Poland on 22 April 2015. The event is supported by the SusChem inspired FP7 project Chemical Regions for Resource Efficiency (R4R) and will bring together all the important actors along the hydrogen and fuel cell value chain in Europe.


The conference will cover all aspects of the hydrogen and fuel cell value chain. Opening presentations will describe the development of hydrogen powered public transport in Szczecin and give an overview of the progress in fuel cells, before looking at the value chain in detail during the main morning session. After lunch the focus moves onto technical solutions.

The agenda for the conference can be downloaded here.

Currently over 60 attendees from six different countries will be joining the event. To book your place contact the conference organisers with your contact details (name, organization, email). The deadline for registration is 15 April 2015.

About R4R
Launched in late 2012, R4R is funded for three years under the European Commission’s FP7 Research and Innovation Framework Programme. The ‘Chemical Regions for Resource Efficiency (R4R)’ project aims to overcome fragmentation of European ambitious and innovative regions. Through its methodology, R4R could lead the path to a range of promising and positive impacts on resource efficiency.

R4R brings together six complementary EU Regions (Aragon in Spain, Göteborg in Sweden, North Rhine–Westphalia in Germany, the Port of Rotterdam and the South-West regions in the Netherlands, and West Pomerania in Poland), each with their own public and private research and innovation expertise. The R4R project aims to achieve a major step improvement in regional and transnational cooperation among its participating regions and will develop practices, tools and examples which can be easily disseminated to and adopted by multiple European regions to improve regional and cross-regional collaboration in general, and in the process industry on resource efficiency in particular.

R4R will create a platform for international collaboration on resource efficiency with clusters in third countries to improve and accelerate innovation and promote European eco-innovative technologies globally. To find out more visit the R4R website.