Grow-in-the-Dark Plants
Plants normally make their own food. But scientists are using electricity to make the energy plants need to grow.
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Mushrooms can grow in the dark. But what if other plants could also grow without sunlight?
Plants need sunlight to grow—or do they? Scientists say they’re working on a way to grow plants in the dark, using electricity!
Most plants normally use a process called photosynthesis to make the nutrients they need to grow. In photosynthesis, the plant absorbs energy from sunlight. It then uses that energy to change water and a gas called carbon dioxide into nutrients called sugars.
Photosynthesis allows us to grow much of the food we need through farming. But farming uses a lot of land and requires a reliable climate. As climate change makes it more difficult to grow food, scientists are trying to find new farming methods.
That’s where the new plant-growing method, called electro-agriculture, comes in. Electro-agriculture doesn’t require land or direct sunlight. The method makes it possible to grow plants inside a building.
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Here’s how electro-agriculture works. An electric current is applied to carbon dioxide. This changes the carbon dioxide into another gas called carbon monoxide. More electricity is used to convert the carbon monoxide into a chemical compound called acetate, which is fed to the plants, giving them the energy they need to grow.
The Sun still helps the plants grow, but not directly. The building has solar panels, which absorb the Sun’s energy to produce electricity.
Scientists say electro-agriculture is still being developed. They hope that, someday, it will mean crops can be grown without the need for a lot of land or a reliable climate. Electro-agriculture may even allow plants to be grown in space!
