Cell Phones Powered By Bacteria?
So you're in Sub-Saharan Africa. You're surrounded by more bugs than Windows 95, and there isn't a power outlet for miles. But you've seen 'The Matrix,' so really it's not that much of a stretch: a bacteria-powered cellphone charger could be the answer to the lack of phone infrastructure in the developing world, even for those without electricity.
The newest iteration of the technology comes courtesy of the brain-builders at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who have designed a microbial fuel cell (MFC) that runs on plant waste; the prototype won the first prize in a recent contest held by Dow Chemical called MADMEC, which was held to encourage new uses of materials that allow alternative or non-traditional sources of energy.
Without getting too deep into it, MFCs use electrons -- released by feeding bacteria on sugars, starches, and other organic material -- to produce electricity. The team's prototypes, which it's calling BioVolt, run on less refined fuel than any before it, and the bacteria digest the cellulose in plant waste. The creators also say they can be produced for only about $2 a pop.
But don't start planting seeds just yet -- the technology is still very much "proof of concept". it would currently take around six months to charge a phone's battery using a BioVolt, which is about five months, 30 days, 24 hours, and 40 minutes longer than a three year-old Nokia.
From New Scientist
Related Links:
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
steve @ Oct 9th 2007 12:13PM
i've seen this and have invested in the technology. it's the ultimate in reusable energy with no dependency on sunshine, wind or anything more than the nature of virus' to grow. buy it.
Herman Arango @ Oct 9th 2007 12:28PM
I know of someone who when he was just on 8th grade developed energy from Pectines. He later developed a battery based on the same principles. This happened over 30 years ago. But the big companies wanted to buy the technology so that it would not ever see the light of day.
BurlJeanD @ Oct 9th 2007 1:16PM
Wonderful what new technology can do. Like to see new and old developing possible products for us to use in the future. I will not hold my breath waiting for products to be invented, tested and working in seconds. Why hasn't someone invented an automatic toaster that works in seconds?
GRANT @ Oct 9th 2007 1:39PM
Herman Arango is full of the brown stuff!
David @ Oct 9th 2007 2:50PM
How about just using sunlight to recharge and heat stuff? They should be mass producing solar panels or selling the ones NASA doesn't need. Right now, they are so expensive, because hardly anybody makes them.
DEL @ Oct 9th 2007 3:31PM
HI... Honey!
WOULD kiss you but
I see you been on the phone all day...
GOT BACTERIA ALL OVER YOUR MOUTH.
Tony @ Oct 9th 2007 4:07PM
What if your skull could be lined with flash memory and your brain grew connections to it over time so you would have direct mental access to say 10 terabits of information that would be download per your specifications. The entire encyclopedia, thesaurus, other languages, etc., then add the ability to download different info as needed with a blue tooth connection using your cell phone over night, as an example, current maps of any area you plan to travel too, were you an architect, all info concerning the design of a building, or if you were a pharmacist, complete knowledge of all drugs, then think of being infected with a man made virus that could enter your brain build this added memory and connect to your current memory. Fear not, these and more you (mankind) will do.
Lee @ Oct 9th 2007 5:36PM
Using solar panels makes so much more sense, as the sun shines in Africa everyday. I saw a man on TV who had invented a solar panel about the size of a coffee table top that could fold up and be stored at night or carried where you needed to use it during the day and it could power a radio, cell phone, small appliance, etc. He wanted to make them available for about $30 but I have never seen him on TV since the documentary about 6 years ago. Some oil company probably brought up his rights to the technology so we won't see it in use.
ukantseeme @ Oct 9th 2007 6:56PM
.....you can do the same thing with democrats...
pack some into a small room, let them degrade
themselves...and voila !....microbial fool cells.
byjfritch @ Oct 9th 2007 8:25PM
Wow, I can't believe that someome would think that "being" would evolve from technology like this! Do you think that we are all just "evolved"?
Joe @ Oct 9th 2007 11:56PM
I think this is wonderful. Companies like Govios Mobile are currently trying to curb the impact that mobile phones have on the environment, maybe we could all start with recycling our old phones and batteries...
bob @ Oct 10th 2007 12:23AM
Right David. Lee, solar cells cost anywhere from about $2.50 to $3.50 per Watt of energy available. New processes promise to take that down to less than 10 cents per Watt. Also, the new coatings can be applied to plastics avoiding the costs of using Silicon. Also... these can retrieve energy from much lower light levels which opens solar power to places like Seattle. BUT, need to coat them with something because oxygen degrades them. Can apply this stuff like paint and dyes can make it more susceptable to different wavelengths (colors) of light. Contraryt to the theme that large power producers will buy them out, The need is such that these technologies are going to make it. Have a nice day. Good for the BioVolt guys. Good thinking even if it never gets to be practicable.
RockyRaccoon @ Oct 10th 2007 3:00AM
All these comments are so interesting,I'm able to nod off while reading them,only to wake-up an hour later tosee no real change.Try to make your comments interesting to the reader. I implore you.
Adri @ Oct 10th 2007 3:26AM
ummmm....How likely is it that your cell phone is going to have any reception, therefore any purpose at all, in remote parts of Africa where electricity is not present? Am I the only person that thought of this? I'm all for advancements, but c'mon there has to be a greater use for this than that!
cimitry @ Oct 10th 2007 5:19AM
Whenever you idiots talk about a barren or undeveloped land, you talk about "Sub-
Saharan Africa". I am so sick of that crap. Have any of you actually been to "Sub-Saharan Africa"? Everything you have here is there, except for the pompous ethnocentric jackasses who compare everything bad to "Sub-Saharan Africa". By the way, Africa is not a country, it's a continent with over 30 member countries, geniuses.
Bob @ Oct 11th 2007 6:24PM
I don't really know if "Herman" is full of the brown stuff but we were making "bug" batteries over 25 years ago in science lab and running small lights on them...
Jossy @ Oct 14th 2007 1:45AM
oh heck, they say that cellphone's and other electronic device's are causing cancer in people. sure, lets make them available to every person on this planet. maybe we'll all finally die off. i recently saw someone on tv produce electricity from a few itmes that we all have in our houses and apartments. who needs bacteria to do it when what's needed is probably right under your nose staring at you right now? as for electricity, i'm shutting it off to this computer now, using it to turn on the tv in another room to watch a movie on direct tv, and when tired, i'll shut the electricty off to that too. eh, i have horses and i sure wish i could make electricity or fuel to run my autos with from all the manure they drop. have to pay a guy to come here with his bobcat, in a few days from now, to move my well rotted huge pile, spread it out, and then we'll toss grass seed down on it. it's composted down to being the richest, dark, beautiful soil you eyes could want to see...grows great garden veggies and grass...but doesn't make electricity or fuel for my autos. pity.
Ron Purvis @ Oct 14th 2007 2:08PM
Lee, those solar panels are available for purchase right now. Many people who go hiking a lot have those type of panels. The only thing is that they cost a whole lot more than $30. If you go to http://www.outfittersatellite.com/solar.htm you can see that they range in price from $175 to $480.
One thing that you have to understand is that many inventors claim that their invention will be easy to make at low prices. Most of the time, they underestimate the cost dramatically.
Herman, you are being irrational with your claims. There are many times that a smart person can show a concept of a technology that appears great at the time. The problem is that many of these things that you conspiracy nuts think are being held back by the evil corporations is in fact not able to be developed economically in a way that can be used today. Either it is just too expensive to make use of the technology, or it is not feasible to ramp it up for use.
E J Cox @ Oct 15th 2007 12:11AM
Hey a simple spring windup generator built inot the phones could easily charge the battery and you'd never have to plug the phone in again..
Don Stevens @ Oct 15th 2007 3:09AM
Check out www.millenniumcell.com for a borohydride battery that combines borohydride (as in Mule Team Borax) and water with a catalyst to form hydrogen on demand (HOD). No hydrogen storage, thus no danger of explosion. The system has been accepted by the FAA for rule making with respect to aircraft carry on baggage. DOW Chemical is involveed in this project with MCEL. Should be very interesting to watch!