Agricultural electricity has the potential to address many inefficiencies associated with traditional farming, such as the significant demand for water, fertilizers, and land to cultivate crops.
Biological engineers have proposed a bold new method for food production that could significantly transform the agriculture sector, making farming more efficient, sustainable, and adaptable to environments like space. This system, referred to as “agricultural electricity”, will replace traditional photosynthesis (a process that only converts about 1% of the absorbed sunlight into chemical energy in plants) with an efficient reaction that transforms carbon dioxide (CO2) into organic molecules that crops can utilize as food, as reported by Interesting Engineering on October 23.
Prototype of agricultural electricity by the research team. (Photo: Feng Jiao).
“Since agricultural electricity does not depend on climatic conditions and provides greater efficiency than traditional farming, it could serve as a valuable method for supplementary food production when needed,” shared research author Feng Jiao. “In the context of global climate change affecting agriculture, advanced food production technologies are becoming increasingly important to stabilize food markets and support a growing population.”
Photosynthesis, the process that allows life to exist on Earth by transforming sunlight into chemical energy in plants, is extremely inefficient. According to researchers, only a tiny fraction of the sunlight absorbed by plants (around 1%) is converted into usable energy. As the demand for food rises, arable land becomes limited, and the climate crisis looms, enhancing this efficiency is crucial.
In agricultural electricity, photovoltaic panels will be used to power the chemical reaction between CO2 and water, producing acetate, a molecule related to acetic acid (the main component in vinegar). Crops will be genetically modified to utilize acetate as a primary energy source instead of relying on photosynthesis. If this system is applied on a large scale, it could reduce the land required for agriculture by 94%, according to estimates from the research team.
Robert Jinkerson, a biological engineer at the University of California, Riverside, and co-author of the study, views this technology as a significant advancement. “If we no longer need sunlight to grow crops, we can detach from the environment and cultivate food in controlled indoor settings,” he stated.
This technology could redirect farming towards multi-story vertical farms indoors, where sunlight is harnessed outside the building to enhance plant growth inside. According to Jiao, the current version of agricultural electricity achieves an energy conversion efficiency of about 4%, which is four times that of photosynthesis. Consequently, the CO2 emissions associated with food production become significantly lower.
The method has the potential to solve several lingering issues of traditional agriculture, such as the significant demand for water, fertilizers, and land for crop production. Agricultural electricity will produce food in a controlled environment, allowing for more precise resource management and reducing the environmental impact of farming. Moreover, this method could mitigate the effects of climate change by decoupling food production from weather patterns and seasonal variations.
To achieve this goal, the research team is developing genetically modified crops to “consume” acetate. Natural plants have a metabolic process that allows them to break down stored food in seeds during germination. This process halts once the plants begin to utilize photosynthesis. The team of biological engineers aims to reactivate this process in mature plants so they can utilize acetate as an energy source. While initial research focuses on tomatoes and lettuce, the team plans to expand to calorie-dense crops such as cassava, sweet potatoes, and grains. Although the research is still in its early stages, other organisms such as fungi, yeast, and algae in nature have already utilized acetate as an energy source. This indicates that the technology could be commercially applicable to these organisms much sooner.
