It seems conceptually simple, except the requirement that the energy of an photon exactly match some required energy in order to be absorbed seems really unlikely, since photon energy not a discrete quantity, and varies according to doppler effects and other things.
It seems like the vast majority of photons would just fly through the universe without interacting with anything, unless there are other ways for photons to interact with matter besides being absorbed. (If there are other ways, they are seemingly never mentioned as a potential alternative fate for the photon).