Potatoes: Eco-Friendly Batteries

by Sara Goudarzi

Potatoes could be a viable source of electrical energy, scientists report in a new study.

For centuries, humans have been looking for ways to harness solar energy. The energy from the sun is stored in plants and animals as chemical and biological energy. Food sources store energy from the sun during their growth period. If humans are able to utilize this power, it could be yet another source of renewable energy.

If you sandwich the food between two different metals, the liquid in the food, which contains positive and negative ions, will transfer this stored energy into electric energy through the metals, explains Suliman Mahmood Abdalla, a researcher at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Abdalla and his colleagues looked at different food sources to see which ones contain the most readily usable energy. Of the different food items examined, garlic stores maximum energy within its tissues but the energy is not as well distributed as in potatoes.  So, for this reason, they believe potato is a viable candidate as a future power supply source.

"The maximum electric power, generated at 0.18 cm, equals 155 µW/ cm². The Zn/potatoes/Cu battery has electric capacity 2.57 times more efficient than an AA/LR6 1.5 volts alkaline Energizer® battery," the researchers write in the most recent issue of the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy.

Furthermore, potatoes are good contenders because they are relatively cheap and abundant, Abdullah explains. The researchers’ cost analysis revealed electricity generated via these tuber cells is 26 times cheaper than the equivalent commercially available Energizer® battery.

"The ability to provide electrical power with such simple and natural means could benefit millions of people in the developing countries," the researchers write.

Scientists hope to take the technology into the mass market within a year. If successful, they believe such technology will make a great impact on availability of electricity for those in need.

"It will [supply an] enormous quantity of energy," Abdalla says. "Because food, in particular potatoes, is full of stored energy and is plenty in quantity and quality all over the globe; in addition it is cheap, renewable and durable."

The researchers hope that potato cells could bring electricity, light and telecommunications to the lives of those living off the grid.

Sara Goudarzi is a freelance writer based in New York City.
Her website is saragoudarzi.com