Scientists believe we may one day use buildings as giant batteries thanks to a revolutionary new material.
A team at Aarhus University, Denmark, claims to have demonstrated how the world’s most widely used building materials can become a living power device by embedding energy-producing bacteria in cement. This creates what’s known as a biohybrid super capacitor with the ability to regenerate over time.
‘We’ve combined structure with function,’ says lead researcher Qi Luo. ‘The result is a new kind of material that can both bear loads and store energy – and which is capable of regaining its performance when supplied with nutrients.’
The study was first published in the journal Cell Press, and focuses on the process of adding Shewanella oneidensis to cement. This bacterium is renowned for its ability to pass electrons onto external surfaces through extracellular transfer. After being intrude to the cement matrix, this organism creates a network of charge carriers which can restore and release energy.
In the early stages of testing, performance has exceeded traditional cement-based energy storage systems. Meanwhile, once microbes have died the material continues to function and can be ‘brought back to life’ — up to 80% of the original storage capacity can be recovered.
‘This isn’t just a lab experiment,’ says Qi Luo. ‘We envision this technology being integrated into real buildings, in walls, foundations, or bridges, where it can support renewable energy sources like solar panels by providing local energy storage. Imagine a regular room built with bacteria-infused cement: even at a modest energy density of 5 Wh/kg, the walls alone could store about 10 kWh – enough to keep a standard enterprise server running for a whole day.’
According to the team, one of the most exciting aspects of the innovation is the potential to scale up without huge expense at a time when the world is transitioning to renewable energy but storage capacity is struggling to keep pace. It is hoped that in the future living cement could see house façades double up as batteries, or bridges power their own sensors and lighting.
Image: CDC / Unsplash
More Biodiversity, Climate Change, Nature and Sustainability:
It’s time to see nature as an ‘investment frontier’ not a ‘victim’
Green Party polling suggests Polanski already ‘cutting through’