Artificial photosynthesis energy conversion efficiency (due to photosynthesis' own low efficiency in converting sunlight to biomass), the cost of harvesting and transporting the fuel, and conflicts due to the increasing need of land mass for food production. The purpose of artificial photosynthesis is to produce a fuel from sunlight that can be stored conveniently and used when sunlight is not available, by using direct processes, that is, to produce a solar fuel. With the development of catalysts able to reproduce the major parts of photosynthesis, water and sunlight would ultimately be the only needed sources for clean energy production. The only by-product
Photosynthesis type of photosynthesis used by living organisms. Although there are some differences between oxygenic photosynthesis in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, the overall process is quite similar in these organisms. There are also many varieties of anoxygenic photosynthesis, used mostly by certain types of bacteria, which consume carbon dioxide but do not release oxygen. Carbon dioxide is converted into sugars in a process called carbon fixation; photosynthesis captures energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrate. Carbon fixation is an endothermic redox reaction. In general outline, photosynthesis is the opposite of cellular respiration: while photosyntesis is a process of reduction