Researchers from a startup company affiliated with the University of Bath in England have developed a way to harvest energy from the microorganisms that live in soil, a breakthrough that could have major implications in agriculture, The Good Men Project reported.
The scientists proved the technology's viability with a 2019 pilot project in Brazil, in which they built a soil-powered water disinfection system.
"Our initial goal is to accelerate the shift toward digitalization within the agriculture sector," said Jakub Dziegielowski, one of the researchers and the cofounder of Bactery, the startup company. "The purpose of the pilot in Brazil was to prove the concept and demonstrate the possibility of utilizing soil as a source of electricity, to power something substantial. In our case it was an electrochemical water treatment reactor."
Now, Bactery said that it has improved the technology to the point where it could be used to power sensors. These sensors, which would deliver farmers important data that would allow them to generate the highest possible yields, would be self-recharging and always on.
It's not just the company itself that is excited about this new technology. "Bactery's device may well be revolutionary if it manages to scale," said Hudson Zanin, a professor at the school of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Campinas, Brazil, who is not affiliated with the startup.
As farmers face new and increased challenges resulting from our planet's overheating and the changing weather patterns that accompany it — from increased heat to droughts to surging insect populations — it is more important than ever for scientists to develop new technologies that make growing food easier and more efficient.
That's why advancements like these are so crucial to ensuring that global food supplies are to meet demands.
Equally as important is to continue to develop sustainable forms of energy harvesting that can replace the dirty energy sources — mainly, gas and oil — that have largely caused these crises in the first place. While most people are familiar with wind and solar energy, other types of renewable energy could also help to replace dirty energy, from bacteria-powered energy to power generated from heat, and electricity harvested from the power of ocean waves.
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