Algae-powered Bio Solar cell: [Genetically Modified Algae holds the key to the future of power supply]

As the population of the earth keeps increasing, the need for more supply of energy becomes imminent. Not only is there need for an energy supply, but also the one that is cost effective, and also provides more efficiency. 

Before the recent past, the major source of energy was the fossil fuel. But because of the limited supply of fossil fuels, and the harm it causes to our ecosystem by releasing enormous amount of greenhouse gases, alternatives were sought for; which gave rise to the idea of renewable energy. The commonest of these ideas was the development of solar energy. 

But this idea has gone a little further, with the emergence of Algae-powered Bio Solar Cell (Bio-photovoltaic cell; BPV cell).

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Algae as a source of energy

In a recent research by scientists from Cambridge University, it was discovered that photosynthetic algae can be used to produce electricity. They went further to say that these algae can produce over 5x electricity than the normal synthetic photovoltaic cell.

Not only in its efficiency, but the average human would be concerned about the cost right? Well, this BPV cell has been said to be way cheaper than the conventional synthetic voltaic cell. That’s a comfy though.

Mechanism of Algae powered cell

Yeah, we all know that algae are photosynthetic, and this is the major property that is being used here. In the design of the BPV cell, the algae give off electrons during photosynthesis; some of these electrons are sent outside the cell, in order to produce the required electricity needed to power the cell. 

In a layman’s term: The algae taps the energy from the sun, and converts it to electricity. 

This is not only friendly to the environment, but also saves cost. This would be so useful for a country like Naija; where we have epileptic power supply :)

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But there is also some additional modification that can be done to the algae to increase the efficiency.

Genetic modification of algae

The same research team at Cambridge University has also discovered that tweaking the algae at the gene level would create algae that will be more efficient, and produce greater amount of electricity, even with the minutest sun’s energy. Thanks to cutting-edge technology of genetic engineering.

There is also another idea that is being kept under consideration. This idea is to hybridize synthetic photovoltaic (SPV) cell, and Bio-photo voltaic cell. This combination would lead to the production of solar cells that would have the efficiency of BPV and the durability of SPV. Now, that’s the future of cheap electric current.

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Applications and benefits of bio-photo voltaic cell

The applications of this tech are really enormous, but I would just run down some of them:

• Production of cheap and efficient electricity
• Very environmental-friendly
• Less bulky and cumbersome than the synthetic photovoltaic cell
• Releases Oxygen to the environment, as a byproduct of photosynthesis.

With these benefits, you would not be wrong to infer that the future of clean, renewable, and efficient power supply is hinged around the genetically modified algae-powered photovoltaic cell. I also hope Naija, my Naija would adapt this idea too  :)

Thanks for reading

References for further reading: Ref1, Ref2, Ref3, Ref4, Ref5