Mimicking Nature

Just before spring break Emory was lucky enough to host Dr. Dan Nocera from MIT for a lecture on his research into renewable energy. Dr. Nocera is a proponent of the concept of personal energy, the concept of many small scale energy production units, generally household units, in place of our current large scale grid system. Dr. Nocera proposes using hydrolysis two create and store large amounts of energy that can then be used to power our houses and cars. The process solves two major energy hurdles currently facing us. By using water, the process creates an alternative to releasing greenhouse gasses, and partially solves the issue of energy storage. The storage of energy during off-peak usage and the high cost/space associated with using batteries are the fundamental problems of many renewable energy plans. One of the major issues facing the hydrolysis of water is the lack of catalyst for the production of molecular oxygen. Dr. Nocera has created a cobalt-oxo cluster that closely mimics the manganese-oxo cluster involved in photosynthesis. This interesting new cluster may provide a viable method for hydrolysis and make it a more viable alternative energy source.

I think this is a really interesting new breakthrough in renewable energy and I like the direction that it takes the energy issue. The personal accountability of personal energy generation is great, but at the same time, I am a bit concerned with how this new technology could affect the environment. This topic was actually brought up in the lecture Dr. Nocera. If coal has taught us anything it should be that all our actions have environmental consequences. This technology is a very long way away from implementation, but I can't help but wonder what potential environmental hazards it poses.

http://web.mit.edu/chemistry/dgn/www/research/index.html