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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/11549319

Scientists Develop New Dirt-Powered Fuel Cell That Runs Forever

Northwestern University researchers have introduced a soil-microbe-powered fuel cell, significantly outperforming similar technologies and providing a sustainable solution for powering low-energy devices.

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[–] [email protected] 48 points 9 months ago (5 children)

The key word here is low powered. This is not for your washer, tv or even phone. It might power a sensor here or there, or a small led. Amazing technology, though. Imagine the "powered by dirt" stickers...

[–] [email protected] 35 points 9 months ago (2 children)

So the performance is.... Dirt poor? Ba-dumm-tss

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago

Okay, that one was pretty good. Now get outa here! /jk

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Yes, but I hope that doesn't soil their discovery for you.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 9 months ago

Pairing it with a low powered either mesh- or long range networking (like LoRa) will be great for monitoring whatever parameters in agriculture and nature, as mentioned in the article.

Not everything needs to end up in consumer devices to be groundbreaking (heh).

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

The goal is to power sensors in agricultural contexts, and if that works, great. You could do some amazing things if you know exactly what's in your soil (humidity, nutrients, etc) without having to first lay cables to create a powered network or whatever. It could save water and stop farmers from using excessive fertiliser.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

As someone in this field, thank you lol.

It is really really cool tech, and has some really interesting use cases but was WAY over sold on power at the beginning.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

If it can produce half a watt it can power a pi zero type SBC