Giving New Meaning to the Phrase “Rice Burner”
April 8, 2008 | Research
Wired magazine reports on the latest developments in research into “microbial fuel cells” - Dutch researchers have developed a microbial fuel cell that can generate up to 330 watts of power per hectare of farmed rice paddies.
The researchers, whose work appears in Environmental Science and Technology, used bacteria present in the soil to create a micro power plant. When bacteria eat organic matter, they generate excess electrons, which can be harvested. Peter Girgius, a Harvard microbiology professor described the electric potential of the soil a few months ago. “There are terawatts moving through our biosphere. Solar energy ends up in our soil and sediment,” he said. “Think of it as underground solar energy.”
Wired reports that there are “several startups” looking to develop the technology commercially, including Girgius’ own Living Power Systems. And the J. Craig Venter Institute and other scientists are working to genetically engineer a better bacterial generator, Wired says.
The couple billion people who live without power and largely in rural settings could be a perfect market for this technology. After all, three hundred watts isn’t a ton, but it’s certainly comparable to Potenco’s pull cord generator produces a max of 40 watts, and the wind generator we covered a few weeks ago, which was aiming for 50 watts.
Microbial fuel cells aren’t going to replace coal-fired power plants or nuclear plants any time soon, of course, but far into the future - who knows?
The website Earth2Tech reported on Living Power Systems a few months ago and its microbial fuel cell that harvests power from dirt.
Comment by unfrozencavemandoctor April 9, 2008
Wow. 330 whole watts? From a hectare? Jeez, that means the average home will only need about 5-10 hectares of rice paddy to power it.
Comment by Doug Jones April 9, 2008
A hectare is 10,000 m^2, on which about 10 _megawatts_ of sunlight falls. A good solar panel with 1 m^2 of collecting area can put out 330 W on a sunny day. How would the bacterial microcurrents be tapped? A large array of electrodes? How long would they last, while buried in a rice paddy under cultivation?
Extrapolating from a laboratory fuel cell to a rice paddy putting out about as much power per unit area as moonlight seems a bit farfetched…
Comment by Ed April 9, 2008
So if my math is right, there will be 33mW of power per square meter. What kind of device needs a small amount of power and would be used in a place where solar power is insufficient?
Something that works in the dark or mostly dark environment? Underground? How deep does this microbial activity go?
Comment by David H Dennis April 9, 2008
Considering the price of rice at this point, it seems unwise to consider a rice paddy-based fuel source at this time.
The price of rice has increased by around 50% in the last year and people are going hungry because of it.
D
Comment by Ian May 30, 2008
David H Dennis,
This type of microbial fuel cell does not use up any rice (although it may have some effect, either positive or negative, on the rice plants). It uses the electrical potential of the soil the rice paddy is on.