University Creates Lamp Powered Entirely by Soil and Plants
University Creates Lamp Powered Entirely by Soil and Plants
By Sophia Callahan — Nov 30 2015
From the university in Peru that created the world’s first water-producing billboards in 2013, and air-purifying billboards in 2014, comes a sustainable lamp that derives its electrical energy from plants.
That school is University of Engineering and Technology (UTEC), located outside of the country’s capital, and for the project, known as Plant-lamp, a team of researchers focused their work on challenging the limitedness of electrical energy in rural parts of Peru.
The research group, consisting of one professor and eight students, focused their study in Ucayali, a region in the tropical rainforest by the border of Peru and Brazil that’s sited to have some of the lowest access to electricity in the country. In the short project video (above), they cite numbers as high as 42% of the rainforest population lacking electrical power. This forces many to use kerosene lamps, a dim light source that strains eyesight and gives off unpleasant fumes and smoke.
UTEC looked to alternative energy sources to provide light to a community couldn't rely on electrical cables or petroleum.
More:
http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/en_uk/blog/university-creates-lamp-powered-entirely-by-soil-and-plants
Environment & Energy:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112794428