How to Use Algae to Produce Electricity

Harnessing the electricity that algae naturally produce has challenged scientists for decades. As far back as 1939, German scientist Hans Gaffron wondered about the possibilities of using algae to generate electricity. Algae produces electricity through photosynthesis to power its own cells, but scientists have recently been able to "steal" the electricity using a few different techniques. However, as of December 2010, the energy produced was miniscule. Further breakthroughs are needed to truly make algae a source of energy in the future.

Things You'll Need

• Gold nanoelectrode
• Energy storage system

Show More

Instructions

• 1

  Expose the algae to sunlight. It will begin to photosynthesize, splitting water cells into oxygen, protons and electrons. The cell's proteins will then use the electrons to create sugars.

• 2

  Pierce the algae's cell wall with a gold nanoelectrode. This does no harm to the algae, and as the cell photosynthesizes, the gold wire channels the electrons, creating a current.

• 3

  Wire the electrode to the battery to channel the current into a rechargeable battery bank or any other energy storage system. The amount of energy created is tiny, so it would take up to a trillion algae cells to fill a single AA battery over the course of an hour.