'Bug batteries' make power
6 Oct 2003
The next generation of renewable power stations could use the same fuel as the human body, by converting sugars into energy.
That's the conclusion of researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, whose work on remediation of uranium mines has led to the discovery of a bacterium which can generate electricity from sugars.
The bacterium, Rhodoferax ferrireducens, is a sludge-dwelling organism which, the team has found, can oxidise common sugars to carbon dioxide while pumping out electrons.
The team, led by Derek Lovley, noted previous research saying that bacteria from the same family could colonise graphite electrodes and transfer electrons directly to the graphite, without the need for mediators. They put two and two together, and developed a system which produces enough electricity to power low-level applications.
Unfortunately, the kinetics of the system are slow, and as it stands, it isn't suitable for producing mains power. 'Effectively, we're in a similar position to where solar power was 30 years ago,' says Lovley. The team is currently working on electrodes with a larger surface area.
