In research published in Energy & Environmental Science, researchers from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom used widespread species of blue-green algae to run a microcomputer continuously for a year using no Nothing but ambient light and water.

And according to a university press release, their system has potential as a reliable and renewable way to power small devices.

sustainable energy sources

And biochemist Christopher Howe explained - in the press release - that the rapidly spreading Internet of things “needs an increasing amount of energy,” and added, “We believe that it must be provided by systems that can generate energy, rather than just store it like batteries.” .

And unlike the internet we use to tweet and share TikTok, the IoT connects devices like washing machines, coffee makers, vehicles, environmental remote sensors, and more.

In some cases, these devices operate far from the power grid and are often so far away in hard-to-reach places that there is no easy way to insert a new battery when it runs out or repair its power source if it fails.

The innovative system powered a microprocessor for about a year (Paolo Bombelli - University of Cambridge)

A report - published on the "Science Alert" website - discussed that the use of a "living" energy source that depends on methane, for example, produces a simple and sustainable energy cell that does not weaken with sunset, but its effectiveness depends on its continuous supply of nutrients, which means that its efficiency It will disappear once the food supply runs out.

The report compared energy cells that rely on living sources to photovoltaic cells (solar energy), which depend on extracting energy from each ray of sunlight, which has become an ideal solution to the energy problems we live in today.

Blue algae is a sustainable energy source

Algae is a compromise, as it acts as a solar cell and a living battery to provide a safe current without the need for additional nutrients and so can power countless small devices as well.

"Our photosynthetic system doesn't work the way a battery does because it's constantly using light as an energy source," says biochemist Howe.

Its PV system uses aluminum wool as the anode, because it is easy to recycle and is less harmful to the environment than many other options.

The team studied how living systems interact with energy-generating aluminum air batteries (Getty Images)

The team studied how living systems interact with energy-generating aluminum air batteries, where the "biogenic" part of the cell was a strain of blue-green algae.

Under ideal laboratory conditions, a version of the cell the size of a small battery known as an AA was able to produce just over 4 microwatts per square centimeter.

Even when the lights were off, the algae continued to break down the nutrient reserve to generate a relatively smaller but still appreciable current.

Of course, this intensity is very weak, but it is good in cases that require a small amount of energy to keep it working.

A 32-bit computer processor, commonly used in microcontroller systems, was given a set of calculations to work on for 45 minutes, followed by a 15-minute break.

He left the processor in the lab light, and there he was able to work on the task for more than 6 months, demonstrating that simple algae-based batteries could power primitive computers.

It is imperative to devise sustainable ways to supply energy without harming the environment (Getty Images)

"We used to think that the developed system would stop after a few weeks, but we were surprised by how long it lasted for a long period of time," says biochemist Paolo Bombelli, first author of the study.

Finally, we must admit that we will not be able to continue to produce lithium-ion batteries to power the vast amount of electronic devices that invade our daily lives, which means that sustainable ways of supplying energy without harming the environment must be invented.