Scientists Successfully Create an Algae Computer that Is Powered by Photosynthesis

А team of scientists successfully used algae to power a low-energy computer chip for a period of six months. 

The team from the University of Cambridge closed a cyanobacteria colony (blue-green algae) in a metal enclosure the size of an AA battery.

They left the unit near a window and there, the algae photosynthesized and produced a small electric current that powered the ARM Cortex-M0+ chip. 

This system didn’t just prove the team’s concept, but they also hope that these chips, powered by algae, may be of aid for the future Internet of Things devices. 

According to the team, using algae over regular batteries or solar power offers a smaller environmental footprint and may enable a steady supply of power. 

The Importance of Systems that Can Produce Energy & Offer Eco-Friendly Properties without Costing a Small Fortune

The expanding Internet of Things requires a rising power amount and this can come from systems that can produce energy rather than just store it like batteries do, according to Professor Christopher Howe, a joint senior author of the paper. 

The system consists of recyclable, inexpensive, and simple materials. Therefore, it may be replicated hundreds or thousands of times and power small devices as part of the Internet of Things.

Their photosynthetic device doesn’t destroy batteries since it uses light as the source of energy. This algae-powered chip was used to conduct basic calculations and this resulted in a minimal consumption, that is, 0.3 microwatts per hour. 

Though the use of energy from normal computers differs and depends on various factors like age and workload, this is only a sliver of the electricity necessary for an average PC.

Let’s say a normal desktop PC uses 100 watts of power hourly, the rough estimates are that there’s a need for 333,000,000 of these algae batteries to run it. 

With this in mind, the team is aware that they will need to scale up the solution; however, the basic properties of algae power are promising. The algae used didn’t require feeding and collects all of the energy from the sunlight.

What’s more, it produced power in the nighttime based on the energy which was stored during the day.

Dr. Paolo Bombelli, the paper’s first author, notes that they were genuinely impressed by the consistency of the system while it was working for a long period of time. They first thought that it may stop after several weeks, however, the system just continued working.

Unusual Method, but Part of an Existing & Growing Area of Research 

Though this isn’t a usual way of using algae, it’s part of a growing research area called biophotovoltaics. 

The goal of this field is to nourish the power that biological microorganisms produce through their natural conversion of light into electricity, that is, the process of photosynthesis. 

Despite its inefficiency due to the fact that the plants absorb only 0.25 percent of the sunlight energy (solar panels absorb 20 percent), its proponents claim that bio photovoltaic energy systems may offer benefits like eco-friendliness and low costs of production.

The imagination for the future is that giant lily pads floating on water may be coated with algae and act as power stations in offshore wind farms.

Sources:

THE VERGE

SCI TECH DAILY