Run Your Life on Garbage and Air
Oil companies can wave goodbye to their profits: Researchers in the U.K. have built a battery that runs on garbage that can provide electricity for your home. And in France, they’ve developed a car that runs on air. Right now, the fuel cell runs on sugar cubes, since they produce no waste when broken down, but researchers want to run it on carrot power next.
E. coli bacteria (the same kind that gives you a stomach ache) live inside the battery and produce enzymes that break down carbohydrates, releasing hydrogen atoms. The cell also contains chemicals that use these atoms to create voltage that can be used to power an electrical circuit. One cell can light a 40-watt bulb for eight hours on just a few teaspoons of sugar.
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