Hybrid Inorganic-Biological Systems

Carbon and Nitrogen Fixation from Sunlight, Air and Water

Imagine a world where using only sunlight, air and water, renewable and sustainable fuels and agriculture may be realized. This objective has been met by the Nocera group, which continues to improve on already strikingly impressive results.

Artificial Photosynthesis

We have created the Bionic Leaf-C, comprising a bio-engineered organism interfaced with the catalysts of the Artificial Leaf to create a complete artificial photosynthesis — the combination of carbon dioxide from air and hydrogen from water splitting to produce biomass and liquid fuels. The artificial photosynthesis delivered by the Bionic Leaf-C possesses an efficiency that is minimally ten times greater than natural photosynthesis. Thus, in addition to solar fuels generation, the approach of Bionic Leaf-C provides a new opportunity for massive carbon fixation. We continue to develop new organisms with even more efficient carbon capture and fixation capabilities.

A Living Biofertilizer: distributed haber-bosch

The biological machinery of the Bionic Leaf-C incorporates a carbon fixing machinery. By extending our Bionic Leaf approach to organisms that incorporate both carbon and nitrogen fixing machinery, we have created a distributed and renewable Haber-Bosch process. The Bionic Leaf-N fixes carbon dioxide and hydrogen from water splitting (as done in the Bionic Leaf-C) to produce a cellular biopolymer. Drawing on the cellular biopolymer as a hydrogen source for NADPH and ATP production, nitrogen from air is fixed to result in a solar-powered living biofertilizer. In large field trials, we have replaced chemical fertilizer with the living biofertilizer, resulting in a significant reduction in the carbon budget. As an example of our approach, for a 400-acre lettuce and corn field trial using the living biofertilizer, 225,000 lbs of carbon in the form of carbon dioxide is saved from release into the atmosphere and 29,000 lbs of carbon is sequestered in the soil resulting in a total carbon savings of 253,000 lbs. The idea of “fast agriculture” offered by the Bionic Leaf-N thus represents a new opportunity for reversing the atmospheric carbon curve.

The creation of the Bionic Leaf sets the stage for the large scale and distributed deployment of solar energy fuels and food production using only sunlight, air and any water source. With such simple natural inputs, these discoveries are particularly useful to the poor, where large infrastructures for fuels and food production are not tenable.