Team:UiOslo Norway/Description
Our project
Inspiration
In 2018 the export of crude oil and natural gas accounted for more than 50% of the total export in Norway and in 2017 the oil industry was responsible for about 6% of the total Norwegian employment [1]. Many products have been made to help reduce the impact of such industries on the environment. We think it is important that the countries having major income from one of the least environmentally friendly resources take part in the improvement and implementation of newer and friendlier energy solutions.
The potential benefits of solar panels are well-known[2]: from reducing our dependence on fossil fuels to improving power grid reliability and even to the personal benefit of home-owners. However, mining, material processing and manufacturing of solar cells come with a significant environmental and economic cost. This presents the need for a more sustainable design to ease the transition to renewable energy.
We wanted to contribute to a greener shift in energy use and at the same time show the potential of synthetic biology in achieving this goal. We are aware that currently biogenic solar cells will not outcompete regular solar cells but we think they could complement them. Our idea is inspired by Srivastava et al. from The University of British Columbia[2].
Aim
We think energy produced by microorganisms is a potential source of clean and affordable energy that can complement existing technologies. Therefore, our short term goal for the project is to produce a biogenic solar cell based on living bacteria as the photovoltaic component. Developing a viable biogenic solar cell should ultimately lead to a reduction in manufacturing costs, increased recycling and reduced dependence on fossil fuel use.
Description
The concept of biogenic solar cell has been developed in recent years[2] and we want to contribute to this cause. The basic principle of these cells is to use live bacteria to produce pigments capable of converting solar energy into electrical energy.
The pigment we want to produce is called lycopene, an intermediate in the production pathway of many different carotenoids. We want to use Escherichia coli as the production system, as it is a well-studied organism that also produces substrate for lycopene biosynthesis. By incorporating bacteria into solar panels, we have the opportunity to utilize a wide range of wavelengths of light, even at low light conditions, to produce electricity. The genes for the proteins we will use in order to produce lycopene in E. coli, are crtE, crtB and crtI from Deinococcus radiodurans[3]. With the expression of these three genes in E. coli, the bacteria make the precursor for a broad range of pigments.
Our biogenic solar cell is designed to function like a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The modified bacterial cell is made semi-conductive by tryptophan mediated coating with titanium dioxide plated onto a conductive glass plate. When light hits the lycopene inside the bacteria an electron is excited and transferred out of the cell through the TiO2 to the conductive glass plate and into a circuit creating a current. For more detailed information on how the solar cell works please see the design page.
References
- Choudhary, P., Srivastava, R.K., (2019). Sustainability perspectives- a review for solar photovoltaic trends and growth opportunities. Journal of Cleaner Production 227, 589–612. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.107
- Srivastava, S.K., Piwek, P., Ayakar, S.R., Bonakdarpour, A., Wilkinson, D.P., Yadav, V.G., (2018). A Biogenic Photovoltaic Material. Small 14, 1800729. doi:10.1002/smll.201800729
- Tian, B., & Hua, Y. (2010). Carotenoid biosynthesis in extremophilic Deinococcus–Thermus bacteria. Trends in Microbiology, 18(11), 512–520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2010.07.007