Designer Fabienne Felder wants to
reupholster jumbo jets with moss. In her vision, passengers will sit on verdant
tufts while the bryophytes purify the air and use electrons captured during
photosynthesis to power the Direct TV panels on the seat backs. Many would
think Felder was crazy, but biochemist Dr. Paolo Bombelli and plant scientist
Ross Dennis from the University of Cambridge were impressed with her brio and
offered her the opportunity to collaborate with their lab.
The scientists are researching the potential
of photo microbial fuel cells, or photo-MFCs, which are essentially potted
plants that act like miniature power plants and transform sunlight into
electricity that can power iPads. They aren’t as efficient as traditional
photovoltaic solar cells, but are more eco-friendly to manufacture.
Bombelli and Dennis have worked with designers
previously and created a concept design called the Moss Table—a surface covered
in photo-MFCs that could supposedly power a lamp. In reality, all the prototype
cells could power was a small LCD display, but it illustrated the potential.
While they appreciated Felder’s gonzo vision, the scientists proposed a project
that would be possible this year instead of a decade in the future and decided
to build a humble FM radio.
The result is a sound system comprised of ten
photo-MFCs housed in a frame meant to evoke the feel of a biochemistry lab. It
looks like a science experiment, but Felder’s biophilic boombox can generate
enough power to play a short song. The array and a hidden capacitor can only
power the radio for a few minutes at a time, and listening to an entire
baseball game would require hundreds of plants, but she’s still bullish on the
potential of truly green energy. “Give the researchers a few more years and it
will all change,” says Felder. “But despite these little steps forward, the
breakthrough we’ve had with the radio is not to be underestimated.”
“I like the idea of getting closer to nature
again–to use it in ingenious ways, without exploiting it.”
The University of Cambridge holds a patent on
this technology and they’re finalizing an educational kit that will surely
replace potato clocks in 3rd grade classrooms around the country. Beyond that,
stabilizing the technology and expanding its efficiency is the next order of
business. Finding the perfect moss and growing them directly onto conductive
surfaces could lead to efficiency gains, but more experiments are required.
There are over 20,000 species of moss growing in Britain alone and aside from
their ability to produce electricity they also insulate, muffle noises, filter
the air, and have anti-fungal/bacterial properties.
“On a small scale I think we could soon-ish
convert people’s normal houseplants into little power-generators for charging
phones,” says Felder. “On a large scale, especially outdoors, the right mix of
plants will be crucial and that will need more research, both in terms of
plants and irrigation systems, maintenance, etc.”
The team’s well aware that it may take years
before the technology is viable in the market. Even at maturity it might only
make sense in developing countries. Despite the challenges, Felder is excited
by the fact that current setups only convert approximately 0.1% of the
electrons the mosses are exposed to. Even with that meager efficiency, if a
quarter of London’s residents used moss to charge their mobile phones for 2
hours every other day, it would save 42.5 million kilowatt hours, nearly $12
million dollars per year, and keep approximately 40 tons of carbon dioxide from
the environment.
“I like the idea of getting closer to nature
again and to use it in ingenious ways, without exploiting it,” says Felder. “I
am a designer by trade, but a scientist at heart.”
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source:wired .com
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