European and International Initiatives in the Field of Artificial Photosynthesis

In a context of the rising awareness of the need for alternative renewable energy sources to achieve a low- carbon society, artificial photosynthesis, that is,i.e. the possibility to directly convert solar energy to chemical energy, is an appealing emerging energy technology. Mimicking the photosynthetic process, the endeavour is to produce a fuel, called solar fuel. We present here a bibliometric analysis showing the evolution of the field in recent years and mapping the emerging academic key actors. This young multidisciplinary research area is swiftly developing, and several European and international initiatives have emerged in recent years to foster its development towards the market. Although artificial photosynthesis is still at the laboratory level, it is also attracting the interest of industries. Many national initiatives in Europe, United States, and Asia focussing on artificial photosynthesis have been launched. On the European side, the field begins to be addressed in the agendas of the EU framework programmes as well as in dedicated COST actions (Perspect-H2O) or in the Joint Programme ‘Advanced Materials and Processes for Energy Applications’AMPEA from the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA). Other international initiatives focussing on artificial photosynthesis are the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Solar Fuels Institute (SOFI), and the Energy Innovation Hub and several Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) in United States. There are also dedicated conferences such ase.g. the Gordon Research Conference series on Solar Fuels and the recently launched International Solar Fuels conference. It is expected that as the field develops, new initiatives and new actors will emerge in different parts of the world.