Power up the Future: How Green Energy is Leading the Charge for a Sustainable World

Fig: Solar Energy Generation Plant

Image Source: Unsplash‍

As we continue to rely heavily on non-renewable energy sources, such as fossil fuels and nuclear power, we are faced with the grim reality of climate change and the devastating impact it has on our planet. However, there is hope in the form of green energy. In this article, I will explore the basics of green energy, its impact on the environment, why it is a sustainable solution and the benefits of using it. I will also delve into the future of renewable energy, initiatives around the world, and how to make the switch to green energy.

Does Plant Can Produce Electricity on Itself?

Beautiful Orchid Flower

How Plants Can Generate Electricity?

Do really living plans can generate electricity? If yes, how?

The answer is yes! Living plants can generate electricity and it is very simple way. Some scientists are working on it to generate electricity from plants in an economic scale. They found and developing the technology to generate electricity living plants without damaging or disturbing their normal life’s. They also identified that wet area like paddy fields or grain growing lands where soil normally wetty is suitable for electricity harvesting.

What is the Principle to Generate Electricity from Living Plants?

The principle of living plants’ electricity generation, just from waste product of bacteria! Yes, electricity generating electron comes as waste product of bacteria living near plants roots. Plants excrete electrons into soil that is broken down by bacteria.

In the organic matter the electrons are released in the break down process. This is the main targeted point to generate electricity from living plants, harvesting these free electrons using sluggish electrodes.

Reciting the principle of generating electricity from vegetation is so easy, in practical usable electricity harvesting from plants is not economical yet. Some scientists are working on it and improving remarkable electricity generation from this Nano source of electron.

Present scale is around one watt of electricity from one square meter of area, a team of scientist from Netherlands trying to scale up it up to four watts from one square meter of area.

Initially it is not rational to add into or alternate the grid power, but possible use for small to medium scale WiFi or mobile charging, lighting color trap to insects’ killer in remote paddy field. 

Video clip to show how plants can generate electricity: 

Side effect and Cost Effect to Generate Living Plants Electricity

Electricity from living plants using bacteria produced electron not depends on sunny or cloudy weather, sun-shine or darkness. So, it can generate day or night all the time, it can be the fill up the weakness of solar power at cloudy weather.

Still there is not found any side effect for plants and environment to generate electricity from plants. To harvest electrons from plants root area, no need to go electrode more deep; it’s around five to 30 centimeters only. Experts are hopping to generate up to three watts electricity from one square meter of area. If this dream is become success, it would be one of most clean electricity around the world.

The company was founded in 2009, as a spin-off from Wageningen University, by Marjolein Helder and David Strik. The technology enables the user to produce electricity from living plants at practically every site where plants can grow, the full details on all of the Technology can be found here. 

Do Plant Can Generate Electrical Signal to Communicate Between Them?

In above discussion we found how plants help to generate electricity from their byproduct electron. Now, question is do plants communicate each other, if yes, do they use electrical or electromagnetic signal like us?

so far, a group of scientist found that plants communicate each other in different way, even they use electrical signal to their communication.

Plants communicate to each other and send some chemical or electrical signal to protect themselves from enemy and survive to nature.

Flowers can send electrical signal to neighbors bees to inform them how beauty, colorful and healthy she is to serve enough honey, bees are attracted and come to.

To communicate through the network, trees send chemical, hormonal and slow-pulsing electrical signals, which scientists are just beginning to decipher. Edward Farmer at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland has been studying the electrical pulses, and he has identified a voltage-based signaling system that appears strikingly similar to animal nervous systems but plants have neurons or brains.

Green Energy Generation without Carbon Dioxide Emission!

source: google image-Cyanobacteria

Green Energy Generation without Carbon Dioxide Emission is Importance Nowadays:

We aware, most of the power plants are emitting huge amount of carbon-dioxide every day all over the world. This carbon-dioxide imposes negative impact on our environment and greenhouse gases. We cannot think without electricity for a single moment, but we everybody hardly desire carbon-dioxide free system which now days called “clean” or “green”. 

For long time scientists are trying to go ‘green electricity’. What do you think about Green Energy? Alternative is fossil fuel, a broad of solar panel, or a field of pure white turbines? Perhaps; but have you been ever think a bucket of bacteria? Yes, now scientists are thinking Cyanobacteria may help us to generate clean or green electricity.

Cyanobacteria:

You may hear to as blue-green algae or blue-green bacteria which existing from more than 3 billion years. Cyanobacteria exist in all environments, from the very hospitable to the unimaginable, from the hotspot like Sahara desert to frozen like Antarctica. Biological reactions are good at forming carbon-carbon bonds, also has natural electrogenic tendencies. 

We know most of chemical raw materials come from petroleum and natural gases, but chemists have already engineered blue-green algae to grow chemical as a model for fuels and plastics. They achieved cyanobacteria to convert carbon dioxide into 2.3 butanediol (a chemical) that can be used to making paint, solvents, plastics and fuels. 

Experts say it’s easy to produce ethanol from cyanobacteria using carbon-dioxide and sunlight where from corn or switch-grass requires massive amounts of land for growing fuel.

Sponsored:

Green Electricity from Cyanobacteria:

Now it’s time to imagine your power generating solar cell is alive! Yes, your tomorrow’s 4G solar cell will be Blue-Green colored and Organic! This organic solar cell will be made from nontoxic materials that will generate electricity directly converting sunlight into electrical energy without emitting any carbon-dioxide. 

Researchers found that Cyanobacteria have natural electrogenic tendencies which can create solar electricity in a self-sustaining manner. These blue-green bacteria are naturally light-dependent, meaning that they inherently generate and transfer high-energy electrons into their environment when exposed to light.

The characteristics of Cyanobacteria are to produce free electron for their own purposes, only a small amount of electron released to the external environment.  Researchers managed to develop a Photosynthetic Microbial Fuel Cell which growth chamber for the cyanobacteria and electron harvester that collects excess electricity which released during photosynthesis process. 

Inside the cell bacteria grow electron directly on top the conductive surface which called anode. So, when exposed light, they directly emit electron onto the anode (electron collector).

The process collecting electricity from Cyanobacteria is almost similar to the conventional solar cell where sunlight strike to a semiconductor which generally made from silicon, cadmium, indium; but here it strike the bacteria and produce electricity.

We hope this organic energy source will ensure the future power safety and it will be the perfect clean or green energy for welcoming generation. 

source: wekipedia/jurnal/blog/net/