Sugar battery offers green-powered tools

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Scientists in the US have developed a sugar-powered “biobattery” that they say stores 10 times more energy than the equivalent-size lithium-ion batteries found in smartphones.

According to the team at Virginia Tech university, the results of their work could be in use within three years – and recharging could be a matter simply of adding some more sugar.

“Sugar is a perfect energy-storage compound in nature,” said Y H Percival Zhang, professor of biological systems engineering at Virginia Tech. “So it’s only logical that we try to harness this natural power in an environmentally friendly way to produce a battery.”

Their “biobattery”, which releases energy from sugar instead of chemicals such as lithium, used in batteries found in today’s electronic gadgets, could replace conventional disposable or rechargeable batteries – and is cheaper, refillable, biodegradable and more environmentally friendly.

More: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/22/sugar-battery-green-powered-gadgets-three-years

 

FiveWordsForTheFuture - Nov 5, 2014 | Biotechnologies, Energy, Green Economy, Innovation, Sustainability
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