A group of scientists in the US are looking into the possibility of 'growing' electricity by using small amounts of platinum.

As part of the effort to reduce emissions in energy production, Barry Bruce and his team of researchers at the University of Tennessee's Center for Environmental Biotechnology in the US is looking at developing energy in the same way as nature - through photosynthesis.

The experts are taking particles from photosynthetic plants and bacteria, before collecting them together in nanoclusters on small assemblages of platinum, Forbes reports.

These photosystems then produce high energy electrons that can be used for direct electrical power, or can be used to stimulate the production of hydrogen for fuel cell applications.

Explaining the concept, Professor Bruce said: "Essentially, you grow a power plant in a field or in a fermenter."

He added: "You don't have to pay for it in any real way other than allowing photosynthesis to do what it's done for billions of years."

Sources:

Growing Electricity, 24/05/07
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/05/23/barry-bruce-photosynthesis-tech-cx_07rev_de_0524bruce.html

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