YOUNG INNOVATORS

PROGRAM
2022
IIT KHARAGPUR

GAP
Greenhouse Gas Artificial
Photosynthesis

Class- 10
By -Dhaval Shah
Kahna Mishra
Kshitija Karmore

JOY SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL

Jabalpur
Madhya Pradesh
 GAP (Greenhouse Gas
Artificial Photosynthesis)
The aim of the project is to build up a system for the
reduction of Greenhouse gasses from the
atmosphere and turn it into SUSTAINABLE FUEL.

The crisis elucidation and Reason for choosing:

Today, the air we inhale has many hazardous substances,

which are the most common reason for deadly diseases
like ischemic heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, acute
lower respiratory infections in children, etc. The main
reason for it is the pollution from industries or factories,
from trucks and cars and other automobiles and from
certain natural calamities like volcano, forest fire etc. and
from dust and pollen grains. The main reason for the
increase in temperature and changes in climate is the
Greenhouse Gasses absorbs and emit infrared radiation in
the wavelength range emitted by Earth.
 Greenhouse Gases
Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere are called greenhouse

gases. This section provides information on emissions and

removals of the main greenhouse gases to and from the

atmosphere. Larger emissions of greenhouse gases lead to

higher concentrations in the atmosphere. Each of these gases

can remain in the atmosphere for different amounts of time,

ranging from a few years to thousands of years. All of these

gases remain in the atmosphere long enough to become well

mixed, meaning that the amount that is measured in the

atmosphere is roughly the same all over the world,

regardless of the source of the emissions. That’s why it had

become very difficult to separate these gasses from the

atmosphere. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the primary greenhouse
gas emitted through human activities.
 POLLUTION STATISTICS IN INDIA
There are many more Greenhouse gasses present in the
atmosphere at small numbers which are very harmful and
dangerous if a person inhales it; these are the reasons for the
hazardous diseases and innumerable deaths in the whole world,
especially India. Through the reports of 2014 Global CO2
Emissions from Fossil Fuel Combustion and Some Industrial
Processes, it is estimated that India produces 7% of Carbon
dioxide and other gasses in the world, which is a huge amount
of pollution. Based on the report of 2016, at least 150 million
people in India breaths air that is 10 times over the Who safe
limit.

India is the third largest greenhouse gas producer after China and
the United States. Some of the reasons for it are as follows:
Cooking fuel in rural India is prepared from a wet mix of dried
grass, fuel wood pieces, hay, leaves and mostly cow/livestock
dung. This mix is patted down into disc-shaped cakes, dried,
and then used as fuel in stoves. When it burns, it produces
smoke and numerous indoor air pollutants at concentrations 5
times higher than coal.
India because of biomass burning and use of chullahs.
Traffic congestion reduces the average traffic speed. At low
speeds, scientific studies reveal that vehicles burn fuel
inefficiently and pollute more per trip.
High emission of greenhouse gasses in India from factories,
industries, power plants, vehicles and cause a huge rate of change
in climate and rise in temperature. .
 THE SOLUTION
From the above reference we are able to know the current
states of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere and Pollution
statistics of India. And before the problem gets out of

control, we need to approach a solution. The GAP system

(Greenhouse Gasses Artificial Photosynthesis)
Theory-
ARTIFICIAL PHOTOSYNTHESIS:
The process of conversion of sunlight, water and carbon
dioxide into carbohydrates and oxygen is called Artificial
Photosynthesis. The Photochemical reduction of carbon
dioxide connects solar energy to CO2 to higher energy
products. It is one possible step in the broad method of
carbon capture and utilization and would have a great rate
of reduction of greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide was reduced to carbon monoxide using a
zinc cathode. The chemical reaction is triggered by blue
light mimicking the blue wavelength of sunlight, and
converts carbon dioxide into two reduced forms, formate
and formamides, which can be used as energy sources.

Model Working and Materials required:

Photochemical reduction of carbon dioxide represents a

possible means of producing chemicals or fuels, converting

carbon dioxide (CO2) to organic feed stocks such as formic
acid (HCOOH), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), ethylene
(C2H4) and ethanol (C2H5OH). Among the more selective
metallic catalysts in this field are tin for formic acid, silver for
carbon monoxide and copper for methane, ethylene or
ethanol. The whole mechanism would be enclosed in a
stainless steel rectangular box and PV panels can also be
installed above them.
The Steps Involved are :
There are three major components to an artificial
photosynthesis device for which there is a need to develop:
light capture and electron transport, water splitting (into
hydrogen and oxygen), and the reduction of carbon dioxide.

1. LIGHT CAPTURE
The first step to artificial photosynthesis is the absorption of
light photons as a source of energy to drive the system.This
zone of research focuses on finding photosensitizers that make
optimal use of photon exposure, and are capable of
aggregating light energy.A popular material for semiconductors,
is silicon. Silicon is an attractive material for this purpose
because it can absorb a wider spectrum of light, up to 1100 nm
and it is also an abundant and cheap source
2. WATER SPLITTING

Water splitting entails the decomposition of water into oxygen

and hydrogen by the means of a chemical redox reaction.Since
splitting water requires about 2. 5 V of energy, a catalyst is
needed to react with the sunlight photons in order to set off the
reaction.Catalyst used, cobalt oxide (CoO), is found to be a
stable, efficient, and as well as abundant option
 HYDROLYSIS OF
WATER

3. CO2 REDUCTION
The reduction, or fixation, of carbon dioxide is another vital
process associated with artificial photosynthesis. In addition
to the production of oxygen and hydrogen derived from water,
there is an interest in generating other hydrocarbon fuels by
chemically reducing CO2 with the utilization of hydrogen.
Because the carbon atom in CO2 occupies the highest
valence, different such fuels can be created depending on the
level of reduction . Examples of fuel compounds that can be
produced are formic acid (HCOOH), methanol (CH3OH),
carbon monoxide (CO), and methane (CH4),for which the
reduction reactions can be seen:
CO2 + 2H+ + 2e– → HCOOH
CO2 + 6H+ + 6e– → CH3OH + H2O
CO2 + 8H+ + 8e– → CH4 + 2H2O
Liquid hydrocarbons have the advantage of being easily
integrated into our current energy infrastructure, and are
therefore a more desirable product.The level of reduction that
takes place depends on several elements. The physical and
chemical environment plays a large role–that being the
temperature, pressure, applied energy, etc. . Although, the
largest influence remains the choice of catalyst. Ideal catalyst
criteria include a low cost, durable, and selective material.
The operation continued without interference for 48 hours,
and it achieved a remarkable solar-to-hydrogen conversion
efficiency of 30%

GAP System
Advantages of solar fuel production through The GAP
system include:

The solar energy can be immediately converted and stored. In

photovoltaic cells, sunlight is converted into chemical energy for
storage.
The by-products of these reactions are environmentally friendly.
Artificially photosynthesized fuel would be a carbon-neutral source
of energy, which could be used for transportation or homes.
The GAP system provides a large amount of Carbon Dioxide gas
absorbed from the atmosphere. It could reduce Global Warming.
There will be very less increase of temperature climate change also
the augments in the ozone layer. It will be a major cause of the
depletion of Greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.
It is cheap with eco-friendly Material

Illastration showing Artificial photosynthesis

 Disadvantages include solar fuel production through
The GAP system includes:

GAP takes long time to act . It’s time can be reduced with
the new material which would be later introduced in
future.
No mechanism has been made on artificial
photosynthesis because it wasn’t commercialised yet.

Utility:
If the government takes some steps for making the GAP system,
crucial in vehicles, industries, factories, power plants, and also on
Traffic Light, It is going to reduce, approx. about 53%
of carbon dioxide in the air. Once this prototype is
commercialised, it would benefit India a lot as we need to take
necessary steps to control our environment from getting
polluted, dropping the temperature rising and also minimising
the changes in climate. The greenhouse gasses which dissolve in
the water vapours in the, which are corroded in nature and also
harms the historical monuments, buildings, statues, and even
cars, could be reduced at grate rate. The chemicals found in acid
rain can cause paint to peel and stone statues to begin to appear
old and worn down, which reduces their value and beauty. They
even cause great damage to forests and farms. The forest fires
are other effects of global warming.
The energy produced by the CO2 reduction will be very beneficial
to our Country.

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