Photosynthesis
Janet.
You seem to have a number of self-appointed "experts", who lecture you on technicalities of which they clearly know very little to nothing.
As a retired lecturer in Plant Science it has been some years since I taught this stuff, but I shall check the textbooks on my shelf and try to not go too far astray.
Photosynthesis in green plants, and in several groups of algae, involves the capture of light photons by a "light antenna" (analogous to a dish antenna for a satellite signal). The captured energy of these photons is shuffled along to a reaction centre where the energy is transferred through a complex of reactions during which it strips water of its Hydrogen (with the accompanying electrons), with Oxygen as a by product. There are actually two successive series of energetic transfers, the older one coming from photosynthetic bacteria which use Hydrogen Sulfide as raw material rather than Hydrogen Oxide(water). All natural Sulphur deposits are the result of activity of such bacteria, just as the oxygen of our atmosphere result from photosynthesis of green plants and algae.
I'm getting out of my depth now and the books I have available are not much help, but to the best of my recollection, the light reaction results in transfer of electrons from H2O (along with the Hydrogens) to the energy currencies of the cell (NADP to NADPH and ADP to ATP. Oxygen (or Sulphur) are byproducts of these reactions. These energized products (ATP and NADPH) are then used to fix CO2 in one of several possible Carbon fixation schemes.
So, as the article is about the photolysis of water the only possible comparison here with photosynthesis is with the light reaction, as somebody has already pointed out. I do not, therefore, see any glaring technical mistakes that she has made.
A more important comparison here would, I think, be with the efficiencies. I don' t have the figures at hand, but my recollection is that in spite of its horrible complexities, the transfer of light energy to chemical energy is almost 100% efficient.
Dr. Arthur R. Berg
