Scientists have devised a new method of generating electricity through living plants. Will it be successful?

FREMONT, CA: Today, science can do things that are beyond our imagination. The day is not far when scientists will find ways to develop life on other planets. Recently, a plant-powered sensor has been successfully transferred to a satellite in space. Plant-e and Lacuna Space developed this pilot service by using plants as the energy source. Since the sensor doesn’t require batteries, it helps in cutting down the costs, maintenance requirements as well as environmental impact. Electricity will keep on producing as long as the plants are growing.

The combination of power-efficient devices from Lacuna Space and Plant-e’s energy harvesting technology supports these self-sustainable devices in operating independently from sunlight, day, and night. The IoT prototype device makes use of the electricity generated by living plants for transmitting LoRa messages about soil moisture, temperature, air humidity, cell voltage, and electrode potential directly to Lacuna’s satellite.

As per the enterprises, its future applications exist in the crucial data allocating from rice fields, agricultural land, or other aquatic environments without any requirement for any external energy sources. Moreover, the ARTES program from the European Space Agency (ESA) is also supporting the pilot service.

The technology developed by Plant-e will help in harvesting electrical energy from bacteria and living plants to produce carbon-negative electricity. The output produces sufficient energy required for powering LEDs and sensors in small-scale products.

On the other side, a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite system is being launched by Lacuna, which will provide a global IoT service. This service enables the allocation of data from sensors, even in remote regions with little or no connectivity at all.

This collaboration has already demonstrated the effectiveness of plant-electricity at its present state of development.

Many areas are existing in the world that are hard to reach, which makes regular maintenance costly and usage of solar power almost impossible. This technology will help communities, people, and enterprises in those areas to improve their businesses and lifestyle.

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