A Northwestern University-led team of researchers has developed a new fuel cell that harvests energy from microbes living in dirt. About the size of a standard paperback book, the completely soil-powered technology could fuel underground sensors used in precision agriculture and green infrastruct

Northwestern University researchers have introduced a soil-microbe-powered fuel cell, significantly outperforming similar technologies and providing a sustainable solution for powering low-energy devices.

    • Magrath@lemmy.caEnglish
      84·
      5 months ago

      Who debunked this? I don’t any comments debunking it.

      Also if you read the article it has limited applications so it’s not some pie in the sky you think it.

      • linearchaos@lemmy.worldEnglish
        10·
        5 months ago

        I kind of get op’s point. It’s not straight up debunked, but it’s so few microwatts that they can power the sensor but they can’t store log data.

        It requires a close proximity powered base station nearby to fire a signal out to get reflected back somehow.

        I’m having a hard time picturing any viable setup outside of a laboratory experiment. If you’ve got a powered base station within a few inches of it why not just power it with that?