Produce Electricity from Plants !

Millions of years of evolution has resulted in plants being the most efficient harvesters of solar energy on the planet. Much research is underway into ways to artificially mimic photosynthesis in devices like artificial leaves, but researchers at the University of Georgia (UGA) are working on a different approach that gives new meaning to the term power plant. Their technology harvests energy generated through photosynthesis before the plants can make use of it, allowing the energy to instead be used to run low-powered electrical devices. Kulasegaram Sanchayan spoke to Dr Ramaraja Ramasamy, and his research assistant Yogeswaran Umasankar to understand their achievements so far, and has prepared this feature with the dramatisation of rising electricity bills and the quest to find alternate sources of energy. The theatrics were performed by Edward Arulnesathasan and Nirutha Tharma.

Dr Ramaraja Ramasamy,right, and Yogeswaran Umasankar work together to capture energy created by plants