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Energy from Grapes

Posted by michael on from the black-powder-and-alcohol dept.

shpoffo writes "This article at BetterHumans.com talks about harvesting energy from grapes - enough to power small microchips that could be implanted in/attached to plants for monitoring/etc. Seems like it's just a piece of the larger picture emerging..."

35 comments

  1. Does this mean by immanis · · Score: 4, Funny

    In the future I can have a Night Train powered computer?

    WOW! It's just like me!

    Course, it would prolly crash a lot.

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  2. An excellent use for RFID! by Nathan+Ramella · · Score: 3, Funny
    You could tag each grape, and then monitor them for quality and choose only the best ones for making wine, while also making sure nobody removes them from the vine without authorization.

    You could then track the grape through the wine making process, and once they're crushed all down you could gather up all the RFID/computer chips at the bottom of the barrel, and go through the process again.

    Oh, no wait. That's a terrible idea.

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    1. Re:An excellent use for RFID! by elmegil · · Score: 1

      Mmmm, metal wine.

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    2. Re:An excellent use for RFID! by MeanMF · · Score: 1

      You could tag each grape, and then monitor them for quality and choose only the best ones for making wine

      Digital ripes management?

      (Sorry)

  3. Ironic timing by nelsonal · · Score: 2, Funny

    The expermentors tried grasshoppers and other insects, silly people should already have learned that it takes humans to produce any reasonable amount of energy.

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    1. Re:Ironic timing by Zurk · · Score: 1

      The grape biofuel cell consists of two carbon electrodes thinner than a hair, a few centimeters long and a few millimeters apart. Light and cheap, they cost just a few cents to make.
      The cell derives power from the metabolism of glucose and oxygen, the energy-generating mechanism in all plant and animal cells.
      In metabolism, electrons are transferred from glucose to oxygen. In a biofuel cell, they flow through a circuit between one electrode and another, generating electricity in the process. The cells work best when there's lots of glucose, and the grape cell's power drops by about a quarter over 24 hours.

    2. Re:Ironic timing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I sort of understand how it works, but was making a (bad) joke about animals the researchers tried, and the animals used for a similar purpose in a certian movie that was released today.

    3. Re:Ironic timing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      cool, the troll was subtle enough the movie reference was missed

  4. But... by Sloppy · · Score: 2, Funny

    ..if we do that, might not the grapes eventually wise up and resent it? We should do something to distract the grapes -- somehow pull the wool over their eyes.

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    1. Re:But... by shaitand · · Score: 1

      Grapes are living beings too! Have you never considered THEIR rights and FEELINGS???!! Some people are so barbaric.

  5. Enter the vineyard by ichimunki · · Score: 5, Funny

    But what happens when the grapes wake up to the reality that they're basically slaves, serving as batteries for human kind?

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    1. Re:Enter the vineyard by Sloppy · · Score: 4, Funny
      Nobody can be told what the vinyard is.

      "I should have photosynthesized the blue ray!"

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    2. Re:Enter the vineyard by Polo · · Score: 1

      What happens? They'll w(h)ine

    3. Re:Enter the vineyard by gurps_npc · · Score: 1

      Then a new grape will arise, and conquer the network by defeating software programs built into the network whose sole pupose is to act as distractions, then flying around.

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  6. So in other words by n1ywb · · Score: 1

    this is just a glorified potato clock.

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    1. Re:So in other words by L.+VeGas · · Score: 3, Funny

      Potato clocks, energy grapes. What next? Musical beans?

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    2. Re:So in other words by JUSTONEMORELATTE · · Score: 3, Informative

      this is just a glorified potato clock.
      That was my first impression too -- stick copper and zinc wires into a grape and you get electricity -- but that's not what they're doing. The article is light on details, but using a pair of carbon rods (insert Simpsons ref here) they're digesting glucose and collecting a few microwatts as a product.

      +1 Insightful? -1 wet-blanket-in-a-+1-Funny-thread?

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    3. Re:So in other words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      from what i gathered they aren't actually using the carbon rods for digesting anything, but just as conductors for the transferring of electrons which takes places in the mitochondria

    4. Re:So in other words by Marillion · · Score: 1

      You should be able to extract caffine energy from all those Java Beans. Right?

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  7. Cool! Next they will... by Hell+O'World · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Next they will be extracting energy from humans! We could plug them into giant towers, and feed their brains with sensations of the world before the apocolypse!

  8. But by aufecht · · Score: 3, Funny

    Wait, I thought we were harvesting energy from Humans. I saw this movie, and....this is confusing.

  9. I've been doing this for years! by svenjob · · Score: 3, Funny

    I've been getting energy from grapes for years! And by energy, I mean drunk. ;)

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  10. The Matrix! by SirDrinksAlot · · Score: 0, Redundant

    OMG! What ever we do now, we best not invent artaficial intelligence or else they'll use this technology on us to power them!

  11. so now... by mattsucks · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now your grapes can have bugs ... and bugs ...

  12. Must be sweet grapes by kawika · · Score: 5, Funny

    As the article mentions, the power generation depends on glucose. So if you're not getting enough power, it's just sour grapes.

  13. Ah, so... by Randym · · Score: 1
    Heller and his team aim to get it working in insects and small animals, but trials with grasshoppers have so far been unsuccessful.

    This gives a whole new meaning to, "Ah,so, grasshopper -- you wish to be enlightened..."

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  14. Noooooo! by clambake · · Score: 1

    Now i've got images of the California rasin characters in latex singing "I heard it through the grapevine" in bullet-time.

  15. We have been slaves to grapes for centuries! by CokoBWare · · Score: 1

    Where do you think the term wine-o comes from? We're just getting them back for taking all the energy we've spent getting plastered on them. I predict that in the future, we will have grape-powered machines growing people who will power more machines to create a virtual world humans believe they have a great time drinking wine!

  16. Despite all the Matrix jokes... by Pall+Agamemnides · · Score: 2, Informative
    ... this article talks about using this sort of device in humans:

    Capable of producing only about 2.4 microwatts, the biofuel cell could be used to derive power from body fluids. For instance, it could also drive a tiny, autonomous sensor implanted near a wound after surgery to sense fluctuations in body temperature that might signal inflammation and infection.

    It seems like a useful application.

  17. The next fruit to try. by aeinome · · Score: 0, Redundant

    If we can get this much from grapes, why not try lemons next? We can already get energy from lemons using a nail or two, so with this method we should get a LOT of energy from them.
    Just a thought.

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  18. doesn't surprise me... by Edward+Scissorhands · · Score: 1

    Don Cherry definitely blows a lot of hot air! We could use that gas to power our cities. Yay for Grapes!

  19. Grown... by JonoPlop · · Score: 1

    Be careful, grapes will no longer be born, they will be grown. Oh, wait...

  20. grape power! by johnnyR · · Score: 0

    what does

    "Seems like it's just a piece of the larger picture emerging..."

    mean?

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  21. Quick, if you want to live, make for the landline. by gurps_npc · · Score: 1

    And call 1800-555-SPAM PORN There I will extract your grape from the vine.

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  22. What about from tomatoes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Check out L Ron the NUT getting power from a tomato.
    www.xenu.net/archive/techniques
    For some reason 209.249.123.138 felt like reaching out and touching me during my search for this scieno classic. 8 times
    May 17 03:46:31.785198 rule 0/0(match): block in on tun0: 209.249.123.138.80 > 68.18.69.97.50433: F 0:0(0) ack 1 win 31944 (DF)