Will seaweed compete with solar power in the future?
"... Many different species of seaweed grow naturally on the Mediterranean shore of Israel, especially Ulva (also known as sea lettuce) ... After developing new methods to connect Ulva and BPEC [Bio-PhotoElectrochemical Cells], currents a thousand times greater than those from cyanobacteria were obtained – currents that are on the level of those obtained from standard solar cells. ... these increased currents are due to the high rate of seaweed photosynthesis, and the ability to use the seaweed in their natural seawater as the BPEC electrolyte – the solution that promotes electron transfer in the BPEC. In addition, the seaweed provides current in the dark, about 50% of that obtained in light. The source of the dark current is from respiration – where sugars made by the photosynthetic process are used as an internal source of nutrients. In a fashion similar to the cyanobacterial BOEC, no additional chemicals are needed to obtain the current. The Ulva produce mediating electron transfer molecules that are secreted from the cells and transfer the electrons to the BPEC electrode. ..."
From the abstract:
"The conversion of solar energy into electrical current by photosynthetic organisms has the potential to produce clean energy. Bio-photoelectrochemical cells (BPECs) utilizing unicellular photosynthetic microorganisms have been studied, however similar harvesting of electrons from more evolved intact photosynthetic organisms has not been previously reported. In this study, we describe for the first time BPECs containing intact live marine macroalgae (seaweeds) in natural seawater or saline buffer. The BPECs produce electrical currents of >50 mA/cm2, from both light-dependent (photosynthesis) and light-independent processes. These values are significantly greater than the current densities that have been reported for single-cell microorganisms. ..."
Bioelectricity generation from live marine photosynthetic macroalgae (no public access)
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