Photonomics: The Photosynthetic Economy

Enzymes photosynthesizing fuels, organic chemical industrial feedstocks, and bulk macronutrients (fats, sugars and amino acids) from air, seawater and sunlight will be readily developed by mechanomeric selection (MeSe).

I've outlined the basics of such photosynthesis here at

http://www.nanopaprika.eu/profiles/blogs/random-mechanomers-and-artificial-photosynthesis

And I just expanded that with some additional observations on my "MeSeBlog" at

http://mechanomers.blogspot.com/2012/05/photonomics-photosynthetic-economy.html

Basically, I've added four observations to the original paper referred/linked to above, on the photosynthetic frequencies that should (and should not) be used, on decentralization of artificial photosynthesis, and on the utilities of the artificial photosyntheses of glucose and lignin:

Such photosynthesis should not use the ordinary biological photosynthetic frequencies (blue and red) on land, to avoid competition with natural photosynthesis, and should probably best use solar UV both on land and at sea, to avoid such competition and since UV penetrates cloud well and is high-energy.

Such photosynthesis should be as decentralized as possible (eg, every building/complex, municipality, etc., should generate its own fuel as much as possible, for electrical and vehicle-fleet use), not least in implementation in the form of specialized ocean-going photosynthetic barge-fleets (which barges should be transparently-bottomed, to allow unused sunlight to pass through).

One of the most important artificial photosynthetic products will be glucose, for use not only as a bulk macronutrient and general biomolecule-synthetic precursor but in cellophane (biodegradable bagging/wrapping plastic), (cellulose) paper, and the textile rayon.

And another will be lignin monomers or equivalents for use in lignin/artificial-wood syntheses for light and medium construction.

I coined the word "photonomy" to describe the sustainable photosynthetic economy, which seems to me to be the most suggestive and euphonious in English anyway, in spite of its mixed Greek-Latin etymology, but apparently the word has been coined at least once before with precisely this meaning, by "S. Chelydra" at

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/09/18/602496/-It-s-the-photonomy-stupid-

Let the towers rise and the barges be launched!

 

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