New, clean energy source: Living plants

New, clean energy source: Living plants


(NaturalNews) On November 23, a researcher from Wageningen University in
the Netherlands, Marjolein Helder, presented her Ph.D. research on a
method to generate clean, renewable electricity from natural
interactions between the soil and growing plants.

Plants produce
such enormous quantities of organic material from photosynthesis that
they actually excrete 70 percent of it, unused, into the soil by their
roots. This provides important nutrients for bacteria and other soil
organisms. When bacteria metabolize this organic matter, they release
electrons into the soil. The premise of the Plant-Microbial Fuel Cell is
that electrodes placed close to the roots of plants can absorb these
electrons and use them to generate electricity, much like a battery.

Helder's
tests indicate that the Plant-Microbial Fuel Cell can generate 0.4 W of
electricity per square meter of vegetated area, more than biomass
fermentation is currently capable of. Through further refinement of the
technique, Helder predicts that its power generating capacity could rise
as high as 3.2 W per square meter. This level of power generation would
enable the average household to be supplied entirely from the power
generated by grass planted on a 100 square-meter roof.

A future global energy source?

According
to Helder, much of the technique's potential lies in its adaptability.
Various species of plants have high electric generating potential,
including many grasses and even rice. The system should also scale up
effectively, thereby converting marshlands into critical sites for power
generation. Helder predicts that the system will be widely deployed on
rooftops within a few years, and that large-scale generation will be
implemented by 2016. Due to their low cost, the systems could already be
economically competitive with solar panels in remote regions, even at
their current capacity.

Helder also researched the social and
environmental implications of the technology, concluding that it is more
promising than other non-fossil fuel sources. Unlike nuclear power or
hydroelectric dams, the system should have no negative effects on
natural systems. In contrast to biofuels, it would not encourage habitat
destruction or the removal of agricultural lands from food production.
And unlike solar panels or wind turbines, the system would be visually
appealing, rather than an eyesore.

If the system is widely
adopted enough to turn wetlands into a power source, that alone could
provide another benefit. According to a research summary just published
by University of Gothenburg, in Sweden and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, drained wetlands account for the same percentage of Sweden's greenhouse gas emissions as all of its industries combined.

Research
is ongoing on ways to increase the Plant-Microbial Fuel Cell system's
capacity, and to verify the best methods for making it both sustainable
and renewable. Optimum electrode placement, for example, could decrease
material use by two thirds.

Researcher Bert Hamelers was the
first to suggest the potential of a Plant-Microbial Fuel Cell, and the
first tests were carried out by researcher David Strik. Strik and Helder
have since founded a spin-off company to commercialize the system.

Source:-
http://www.naturalnews.com/038169_clean_energy_plants_photosynthesis.html