Artificial leaf could soon fuel the planet, Melbourne researchers say

Melbourne researchers say it may only be a matter of years before the artificial leaf is fuelling every community, house and car on the planet.

The machine they have designed relies on a so-far largely untapped fuel source — hydrogen — and draws heavily on the plant process of photosynthesis, in which a plant converts sunlight into energy.

"We have to learn as much as we can from photosynthesis, which is what goes on in leafy plants, because that's where most of our energy comes from in terms of fossil fuels or current kinds of carbon materials that we use either as food or fuel," said Professor Doug MacFarlane from Monash University's School of Chemistry.

Photosynthesis is nature's most efficient way to make fuel.

"If we can learn what plants do with sunlight and use it to make carbon compounds, then we can potentially make artificially produced fuels for all of the reasons we need fuels currently," Professor MacFarlane said.

In this field of study, the process is considered to be practically efficient if 10 per cent of the solar energy used is captured as hydrogen, but the researchers have gone well beyond that.

In earlier tests they recorded 18 per cent efficiency. Now, they have reached 22.4 per cent.

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