The May 14th innovators issue of The New Yorker has a long piece on MIT’s Prof. Daniel Nocera and the promise and limitations of his “artifical leaf.” The story, like most of theirs, is long and sits behind the pay wall.

From the abstract:

The process that Nocera calls “artificial photosynthesis” could be described more precisely as solar-powered electrolysis of water: using energy from the sun to electrochemically split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Nocera isn’t the only scientist working on artificial photosynthesis. …Writer visits Nocera’s lab at M.I.T. Discusses the challenges of adapting the artificial leaf for household use. Since the early eighties, Nocera has focussed on providing energy for the world’s poorest people. “If there’s one thing that’s unique to the technology development I’ve done, it’s been doing science with the super-poor in mind.” His emphasis is largely humanitarian; it also arises from his belief, as a scientist, that the only way to meet the world’s projected energy needs without causing intolerable environmental harm will be to work, in effect, from the bottom up—an approach that’s very different from the ones that dominate energy research. Continue reading →