Tuesday, March 25, 2025
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Can plant tissues generate electricity? Beyond the realm of fiction, science has long been aware that living organisms depend on electric currents for essential biological functions. But what many scientific studies are now exploring is how plants can be used to produce renewable energy and light.
A tremendous electric shock erupts, and the creature everyone knows by the name of its creator rises: "It's alive!" cries the scientist Victor Frankenstein. This scene from The Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley, was directly inspired by the galvanic experiments that were well-known in the early 19th century. But even before the Italian scientist Luigi Galvani demonstrated the electrical nature of nerve impulses in the body over 200 years ago, humanity was already aware of these phenomena, which we now call bioelectricity.
In humans and other animals, this internal electricity powers everything from nerve signals that trigger movement to impulses that regulate heart rhythm. In fact, scientists now know that bioelectricity is the foundation of cellular communication, even in organisms such as plants, which one might initially consider to be less complex. This is far from the case, as research in recent decades has shown that plant tissues aren’t just passive recipients of solar energy, but can generate electrical currents through photosynthesis and ion transport.
One of the pioneering studies in this field was conducted by Wageningen University in the Netherlands, which demonstrated that plant roots interact with soil bacteria to generate electricity. This discovery opened the door to the possibility of harvesting clean, renewable energy from crops, with estimates as high as 3.2 watts per square meter. Today, more than a decade later, researchers are even discussing the possibility of cyborg plants, thanks to experiments where nanocables and electrodes capture excess energy directly from the roots, harnessing the plant’s energy waste.
These advances have been made possible by the support of prestigious institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. But leading universities aren't the only organizations currently developing this new renewable energy source. Projects of all sizes exist worldwide, from student work achieving impressive results with limited resources, to large multinational companies making huge investments, to startups whose core mission is to extract energy from plants.
Last year, for example, students at the Martin Miguel de Guemes Agricultural School in Salta, Argentina, developed BioVolt, an innovative project based on a device that harnesses plant energy, transmitted in the form of electrons through their roots, to power small LED lights. Among other potential applications, it could be used as a sustainable lighting solution for gardens, parks, and public spaces, and even to charge cell phones.
In Spain, the company Bioo is creating biological batteries that use natural processes to produce electricity sustainably, and they're also developing projects to generate electricity from plants. The Bilbao-based company has developed three different solutions of this kind under the name Bioo Lumina, with two already available and one still in development.
Finally, we have the Dutch company Plant-e, which has patented technology that can generate electricity from plants by capturing energy from their metabolic processes. Their system allows plants to produce enough electricity to power road signs, outdoor lighting, LED lights in industrial areas, phone charging stations, or Wi-Fi hotspots in rural Africa, among other ongoing projects.
Other lines of research
Beyond extracting energy from plant-soil interactions or bioluminescence, there are other exciting ways to harvest electricity and energy from plants. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed biophotovoltaic (BPV) panels that convert the photosynthesis of microalgae into electricity.
These systems encapsulate algae in transparent cells, and during photosynthesis, the organisms release electrons that are captured by nanocarbon electrodes, generating up to 0.5 watts per square meter.
Though not as efficient as conventional solar panels (0.1% vs. 20%), their advantage lies in sustainability: they don't require rare earth minerals and can even operate at night, thanks to the cellular respiration of algae. According to Dr. Paolo Bombelli, co-author of the study, this technology could be integrated into building facades or used in rural areas without access to the electrical grid. One example already being tested is the Algae-Park in London, where 200 BPV panels illuminate a public garden.
Plants support human beings and life on Earth in many ways. Their presence brings joy to those who admire them, provides shelter in winter, cool refuge in summer, and gives us materials, food, and medicines. They also play a crucial role in converting CO2 into breathable oxygen, and they're now proving capable of generating electricity. Science has known this for a long time, but what once seemed like a simple biological curiosity is now emerging as a viable energy solution. Bioelectricity could just be the true "fire of the gods" that Prometheus stole, redefining our relationship with nature.
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