For The First Time, Researchers Harvest Raw Electric Current Directly From Algae
A step towards bio-batteries Algae has been floated again and again as a possible means of biofuel production, usually through chemical processes that extract sugars or other organic compounds that can be processed into fuel. But what if we could simply steal electricity from algae, no processing or chemical wizardry necessary? We can, says a team of researchers who recently stole electrons directly from algae for the very first time; it just isn't very efficient to do so. Animals have been stealing energy from algae for eons, but like current biofuel production methods, they usually steal it in the form of stored-up chemical energy like sugars or starches. But a collaboration of Korean and Californian researchers wanted to take raw electricity directly from algae themselves by harvesting electrons. Using the common Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a test subject, the researchers applied what's known as an overvoltage -- a tiny current that shocks the...