Author: Carly Kay

The group’s device produces ethylene and ethane, proving that artificial leaves can create hydrocarbons. The development could offer a cheaper, cleaner way to make fuels, chemicals, and plastics.  For research lead Virgil Andrei at the University of Cambridge, the ultimate goal is to use this technology to create fuels that don’t leave a harmful carbon footprint after they’re burned. If the process uses carbon dioxide captured from the air or power plants, the resulting fuels could be carbon neutral—and ease the need to keep digging up fossil fuels. “Eventually we want to be able to source carbon dioxide to produce…