MIT Professor Dan Nocera believes he can solve the world’s energy problems with an Olympic-sized pool of water. Nocera and his research team have identified a simple technique for powering the Earth inexpensively – by using the sun to split water and store energy - making the large-scale deployment of personalized solar energy possible.
Links:
about Daniel Nocera:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_G._Nocera
http://www.mit.edu/~chemistry/faculty/nocera.html
further reading & watching:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=shift-happens-will-artificial-photo-2010-03-03
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14441-electrode-lights-the-way-to-artificial-photosynthesis.html
http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/633-daniel-nocera-describes-new-process-for-storing-solar-energy (video)
http://videoglossary.lbl.gov/2009/artificial-photosynthesis/ (artificial photosynthesis defined in lay terms,video)