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DIY Living Computer Battery

Posted by Hemos on from the potato-powered dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Talk about a living battery/pollution clean up/environmentally friendly battery, this seems to fit all the buzz words. Researchers at UMass reported in the journal Science about their sediment battery. 'Derek R. Lovley, UMass microbiologist and team leader, explained how the team used water and sediment from Boston Harbor, a collection of mason jars, ordinary electrical wiring and sterile graphite electrodes to determine the science behind the mechanics of a simple, sediment battery. Using Desulfuromonas acetoxidans (a Geobacter bacteria) the researchers were able to produce enough electrical current to power a lightbulb or a simple computer.'" The linked article is low on details - post 'em in the comments if you have more information on related projects.

3 of 127 comments (clear)

  1. Article info by danimrich · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is the corresponding article in Science:

    Electrode-Reducing Microorganisms That Harvest Energy from Marine Sediments
    Daniel R. Bond, Dawn E. Holmes, Leonard M. Tender, and Derek R. Lovley
    Science 2002 January 18; 295: 483-485. (in Reports)

    --
    where's all that Karma?
  2. More information on microbial power plants by juushin · · Score: 5, Informative
    As far as more information on Lovley's study, there aren't many details floating around. The article still hasn't appeared in print in Science (possibly this week). I did find some press releases from UMass that shed a bit more light on their work:

    http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/archive/2002/01170 2electrodes.html

    http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/archive/2002/11130 2harbor.htm

  3. Details, details, details by kowaikawaii · · Score: 5, Informative
    Details...

    They've actually put two of these things up in field sites, and it works well in both polluted (Tuckerton, NJ) and unpolluted (Newport, OR) areas. The energy it's harvesting is from the difference between the oxidizing environment we live in and the reducing environment in which sediment bacteria turn organic matter into methane (and no, the methane can't be effectively harvested.)

    The good news is that the power supply was very steady over 3 months. The bad news is that the power so low as to be useless - it averaged at 28 MILLIwatts per square meter. The area needing to be covered in order to run a lightbulb is left as an exercise for the reader, but the answer's big. They're currently thinking this might be a good way to power long-term monitoring devices deployed in the middle of the ocean and other distant places, but as a practical power source - go get a photovoltaic!