Last October, Gates visited Lewis’ lab, an event which the professor described as “inspiring” for his students. You might have heard of Lewis in recent months, because his lab has captivated the attention of the Microsoft co-founder, who’s on the hunt for these types of futuristic energy breakthroughs from the depths of laboratories across America.
But it’s also the stuff that gets people like Bill Gates excited. Sure, the concept is pretty far out there. Early forms of such a device could make hydrogen fuel, and later forms could produce a biofuel that could be used in traditional cars. Or an artificial tarp, rolled out on the ground of a football field, which would absorb those natural resources and emit a fuel that could be collected by drain pipes. Instead, picture a rain jacket with multiple layers that take in water, carbon dioxide and sunlight and wick out a usable product, like a gas or a fuel, he said. While the process most closely resembles artificial photosynthesis, Lewis' solar fuel device won't resemble a leaf.
“It’s not going to look like anything that's been developed or deployed in any functional form" yet, he said. The first step in understanding solar fuels - fuels generated directly from sunlight - is to forget what you know about how energy is generated and installed, according to Caltech Chemistry Professor Nathan Lewis, who’s been leading research on the subject at the university for a decade and working on the science for some 40 years.
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