Photosynthesis

Jacob Haqq-Misra and Eric Wolf, researchers with the charity Blue Marble Space, argue in their recently published paper that Earth could stay green for nearly 1.9 billion years or more, depending on how the future plays out.

Unlike man-made solar systems, which are hampered by the sun’s fluctuations and require backup systems to even them out, leaves can harness solar energy even in low-light conditions. Scientists have developed a way to replicate this ability.

Hydrogen-producing artificial leaves might soon be even better at their jobs thanks to a new study that examined the effects of pressure on the chemical processes they run. It all comes down to bubbles.

Electricity-producing bacteria could be an intriguing renewable energy source. Engineers have now developed a biobattery that contains three layers of different bacteria species, which together take in sunlight and produce electricity.

As a seedling matures into a tree, its trunk and branches become stiffer and stronger. Scientists have now replicated this effect in a photosynthesis-assisted 3D-printing ink, made partially from spinach.

Over the last few years humans have tried to mimic nature with artificial leaves, but they’re never quite up to scratch. Now, researchers have designed a new version that could work under real-world conditions, sucking carbon dioxide out of the air and creating oxygen and synthetic fuels.

It’s not enough to reduce our carbon output – we need to actively remove some from the atmosphere. On a small scale MIT engineers have developed a new material that can suck carbon out of the air and use it to get stronger or patch itself up.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have developed a new way to build solar cells containing bacteria, which are more efficient than similar systems and can even work on dim, cloudy days.

Recently Goodyear has rolled into the Geneva Motor Show with new tire designs that could be described as intriguing concepts at best and crazy, outlandish ideas at worst. This year's rendition is no different, hiding living moss inside to cleanse the surrounding air as the car rolls down the road. ​

The world's first 3D-printed wearable containing living bacteria, designed to support the human wearer as a type of "living spacesuit" on trips to outer space, has been displayed at TED 2015.

This "bio-digital" structure sees fluid filled with microalgae organisms pumped around an otherwise transparent shelter to produce dynamic shade, energy in the form of biomass, and an impressive amount of oxygen, while responding to the presence of visitors to produce interesting visual effects.

A few days ago, I drove SAIC's Yez Concept in Shanghai. The Yez is the first automobile ever conceived to have a negative carbon footprint. Is it fantasy or a sneak preview of what you'll be driving two decades from now?