Renewable Energy

Floating solar-powered artificial leaf reducing emissions offshore

April 3, 2023

The lightweight, blade-like devices can float on water and are ideal for decentralized fuel production in remote locations or marine fueling stations for ships/vessels.

'Using disruptive techniques and materials, we fabricate thin, flexible artificial leaves,' Andrei explained in a LinkedIn post. 'This lightweight, scalable cyberleaf floats on water similar to lotus leaves. A modular floating farm may ride the waves of ponds, rivers or seas, avoiding competition with land use.' — "Using disruptive techniques and materials, we fabricate thin, flexible artificial leaves," Andrei explained in a LinkedIn post. "This lightweight, scalable cyberleaf floats on water similar to lotus leaves. A modular floating farm may ride the waves of ponds, rivers or seas, avoiding competition with land use."

Offshore staff

CAMBRIDGE, UK — University of Cambridge researcher Dr. Virgil Andrei has been working on a floating, ultra-thin film device capable of generating clean synthetic fuels.

With the goal of reducing emissions through solar, he and other researchers at the university are working on this solar device to generate synthetic fuels in a carbon neutral way.

In December 2022, the University of Cambridge researchers reached the final of the EU 'Fuel from the Sun' competition with their artificial leaf array, which converts sunlight to solar fuel. They were one of three teams out of 22 proposals who were selected for the finals of the competition, which was held last summer in Italy. — In December 2022, the University of Cambridge researchers reached the final of the EU "Fuel from the Sun" competition with their artificial leaf array, which converts sunlight to solar fuel. They were one of three teams out of 22 proposals who were selected for the finals of the competition, which was held last summer in Italy.

The interdisciplinary team has created a leaf-like device that generates sustainable fuels from water and sunlight. It is made of perovskite and metal oxide light absorbers, which are placed on flexible plastic and metal films. Andrei and his team now aim to produce their leaves on a square-meter scale and use them to provide fuels in a decentralized manner.

The lightweight blade-like devices can float on water and are ideal for decentralized fuel production in remote locations or marine fueling stations for ships/vessels. The "leaves" use artificial photosynthesis to convert sunlight, CO₂ and water into synthetic gas (aka syngas), which can in turn be converted into liquid fuels such as hydrocarbons or alcohols.

Native Romanian Andrei studied chemistry at Humboldt University in Berlin before moving to the UK, where he earned a doctorate in artificial leaves at University of Cambridge. He is a research fellow at the university’s St. John’s College. He recently spent six months in the US researching the production of multi-carbon products made from CO₂ and water.

"Using disruptive techniques and materials, we fabricate thin, flexible artificial leaves," Andrei explained in a LinkedIn post. "This lightweight, scalable cyberleaf floats on water similar to lotus leaves. A modular floating farm may ride the waves of ponds, rivers or seas, avoiding competition with land use."

04.03.2023