Over a billion people worldwide begin living without advantages of electricity, darkness is an inescapable fact. There is no light for children to do their homework, no electricity to operate refrigerators, no power for cooking on stoves or microwaves. For many years, the scenario of humanity's attempt to find a renewable energy market has its focus on advanced nations rather than the developing countries.
Recently, researchers at Peru's Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología (UTEC) introduced an innovative approach to address Peru's lack of access to electricity. 'Plant Lamp' is powered by a houseplant and is designed to replace the use of dangerous fume-generating kerosene lamps, Live Mint reports.
"We put the plant and soil into a wooden plant pot together with a previously established and properly protected irrigation system. Then, inside the pot we place the energy generation system that we created which stores soil and electrodes capable of converting plant nutrients into electric energy," explains Elmer Ramirez, a professor of Energy and Power Engineering at UTEC and leader of the Plant lamp research team.
In order to capture the energy released by some kind of microorganism that gives off electrons, a metal grid is built in a planter. This grid stores the generated power into a regular battery which can power the lamp for up to two hours a day.
The electricity grid is inclined not to work properly in the areas around Nuevo Saposoa in Peru since it is dense with vegetation and prone to extreme moisture and flooding. This has been the contributing factor why the research team picked this specific community for subject development. Ten fully functional prototypes have been distributed to the locals.
"While there are shortages of a number of resources in Nuevo Saposoa, the absence of electric energy has a major impact on social, educational and family development," says Jessica Ruas, marketing director, UTEC.
Truly an excellent news for a lot of people particularly in the developing world that is dependent on kerosene lamps for lighting. A more economical, hazard-free and efficient alternative in the form of Plant Lamp that offers hope for a brighter future for the locals of Nuevo Saposoa.
