Dalgaard Artificial Photosynthesizer

One of the many lasting effects of the Third World War was the destruction of countless forests around the world, and beyond replanting, one of the methods created to combat these effects was to create machines that could function similarly to trees by sucking carbon out of the air through the use of artificial photosynthesis.

Utility

These devices mainly utilize a method of artificial photosynthesis called "photochemical carbon dioxide reduction," which is normally is used on the industrial scene, but has since been improved upon to be used more widely such as in these machines. Their conversion of the CO2 into a higher energy product, formic acid, is an obvious plus to their demand.

Manufacturing

Creating these machines is no easy feat, but the impact makes it worth the trouble. The method of photochemical carbon dioxide reduction is to use cobalt and zirconium bonded by silica to perform metal to metal charge transfer, where light hits the cobalt the electrons are pushed to the zirconium, and if done correctly, it will react with carbon dioxide and become a much more reactive molecule. To put this in the machine, the silica is treated to allow it to take in the cobalt and zirconium, and this mixture is positioned in a protected window of sorts on top of the machine where it can absorb sunlight. another intake on the machine is where carbon dioxide is sucked in so the reaction can take place. Most of the volume of this machine is actually reserved for the storing of the resulting chemical reaction.

Inventor(s)

Artificial Photosynthesizers are primarily produced by Danish a company called Dalgaard Industries after its founder, Esther Dalgaard, whom was only 28 when the product was first released.

Access & Availability

Artificial Photosynthesizers are only available to the general public on a small scale; most are owned only by the states and organizations that use them.