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Tapping Trees for Electricity?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the dc-tree dept.

dr_agonfly writes "Despite many skeptics, a Massachusetts company is getting investor interest in developing a process to tap electric power from trees. MagCap is looking to boost the current power from just under 2 volts to a more useful 12 volts with investor funding." From the article: "Jim Manwell, director of the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Renewable Energy Resource Laboratory, questioned the potential of MagCap's plans. 'I'm wildly skeptical,' he said. 'I would need to see proof before I believed it. It strikes me as pretty questionable for a number of reasons.'"

3 of 392 comments (clear)

  1. Confusing terms by Arctic+Fox · · Score: 5, Insightful
    "the current power from just under 2 volts to a more useful 12 volts"

    How about something more useful? Like wattage?

  2. Don't invest, this is bollocks. by JackDW · · Score: 5, Insightful

    MagCap is looking to boost the current power from just under 2 volts to a more useful 12 volts
    Neither current nor power is measured in volts. If they can't get that right...

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    You're an immobile computer, remember?
  3. The lemon battery experiment by retro128 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It doesn't sound too different from the old lemon battery experiment. Sure, he might be able to generate voltage, but the question is...Where are the AMPS? If he has 12V at .005 milliamps, this tree electricity won't be useful to anyone. I hope not too many investors are buying this guy's line...

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    -R