Compared to even the most ordinary solar panel available in 2024, plants are not very efficient at converting sunlight into usable energy. While a modern photovoltaic (PV) panel can now convert around 20 percent of incoming sunlight into electricity, plants achieve an efficiency of only about 1 percent. At first glance, that seems rather poor by comparison. Yet the American biophysicist David Kramer is the last person to describe plants as "inefficient." "On the contrary! Nature isn't inefficient—it's simply cautious," Kramer emphasizes.

Read the full article 'Kun je landbouwgewassen verbeteren door te sleutelen aan hun fotosynthese?' (in Dutch)