Grassroot energy will power IoT in the city
Bioo is a small, Barcelona based, start-up company that is researching how plants can be used to power small devices for lighting and IoT. They focus their research on the electrons and H2O that are released in the process of photosynthesis and the decomposition of organic substances naturally released by plants, and it works!
Now, you need to see this in perspective. A square meter of green grass (they call them tiles) can produce 1 watt of energy. Not enough to power any of your household products, but enough to bring a LED to life or to power a small IoT device, for example a sensor that is measuring the air quality in your neighborhood. The team is working on a new product that will be able to produce 3 watts of energy – also not a huge amount, but if you connect the grass tiles you might get enough energy to light up the footpaths in the park.
Compared with solar cells there are a few other advantages: solar cells look green, but you pay a huge environmental impact price for the production and they will need replacement at some point. Solar cells also work only during the day, lowering the efficiency. The Bioo solution is ‘green’ to produce, it works as long the plants live and the power is produced at all times: day and night.
In the video, Pablo Vidarte Godillo, CEO and one of the founders, explains the Bioo research and the products they launched.
The first mission of Bioo is to create awareness for their product. For students, they developed the Bioo Ed, a box with everything inside to start experimenting – but you need to bring your own plant.
Another product example is the Wifi Key. It is a pot plant enabling you to log into a WiFi network. The electricity produced by the plant is enough to light up the plastic pot with a LED and to send out the WiFi key. Hold your phone near the plant pot and you will be connected with the internet. With this product, Bioo is aiming at bars, restaurants and other public places.
More information can be found at biootech.com
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