At the moment, the rechargeable batteries we rely on in our gadgets don’t contain the most environmentally-friendly materials, and aren’t the type of thing anyone should be throwing away. They should be recycled at a specialist recycle center. What would be much more eco-friendly is a way to create power from waste products, but at a level where an individual could do it themselves. Sony has been working to create these so-called bio-batteries, and has just shown one off at the Eco-Products 2011 environmental products fair in Tokyo.
Sony’s idea is to provide a battery where by the user adds their own fuel sourced from waste materials. In this case, the proof of concept battery uses a mixture of enzymes to break down shredded pieces of paper. The paper provides the cellulose that is broken down by a first set of enzymes to produce sugar, the second set of enzymes then uses the sugar to produce hydrogen ions and electrons. Finally, the electrons are used to produce electricity through a circuit, while the hydrogen ions form water by being exposed to oxygen in the air.
If such a battery were to go commercial, it could see certain waste products such as paper reused to power batteries rather than being recycled outside of the home. In order for that to happen, the battery technology has to produce enough power to make it viable. At the moment, that’s the sticking point, and something Sony has already spent several years trying to improve. It seems at best the bio-battery will power a digital music player.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a bio-battery in action. Early last year Sony demonstrated a fan being powered by a sugar-filled soft drink. We’ve also see a cell phone modified to run purely on Coca Cola.
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