Center for Bioenergy & Photosynthesis

It's Time to Save the Planet!

Photosynthesis is incredible. Using solar energy, it splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. It releases the oxygen that most life depends on for its survival, and simultaneously, captures carbon dioxide from the air combining it with the hydrogen to produce carbohydrates. These become the food, fuels, and materials that we depend on for life.

Human activities have created an unsustainable energy situation and the resultant climate changes being caused by these activities has led to the realization that we have reached a global state of emergency. Many areas of scientific research are being directed towards these problems.

Photosynthesis, it turns out, may offer ingenious solutions. Not only did photosynthesis make life possible on Earth, it may now help save the planet.

The ASU Center for Bioenergy & Photosynthesis  (CB&P) will carry out frontier multidisciplinary scientific research designed to use biological and biologically-based artificial systems to address societal energy needs in a sustainable manner, with an emphasis on solar energy conversion and bioinspired energy transformation to meet human needs.

Working in tight coordination with the ASU Global Institute of Sustainability (GIOS), the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, we will:

• research how photosynthetic organisms store energy and develop similar processes that can be utilized in non-biological systems (artificial photosynthesis)
• discover new energy transfer pathways in microorganisms using metagenomics and other state-of-the-art techniques
• metabolically manipulate and engineer organisms for bioenergy production, including hydrogen, ethanol, and bio-diesel
• develop the design and optimization of bioreactors and production processes for bioenergy production
• examine the nature and role of photosynthetic organisms on environmental processes, climate, and human activities
• investigate the societal implications of bioenergy use and inform the general public about photosynthesis and the transition to the post-petroleum world
• work closely with our partners to develop sustainable solutions to other problems such as developing small solar energy collection/storage devices to deliver electricity to the two billion poor that currently are without such service
• communicate our findings to the broader world and engage in extensive education and outreach activities at the K-12, college, community and professional levels, including preparing teaching materials, conducting workshops, hosting web sites, staging lectures and organizing conferences