Energy from Dirt

A company with a strong South African connection, Lebônê Solutions Inc, are commercialising a technology that has the prospect of providing energy to the poorest communities in the world. Lead by South African Hugo van Vuuren, who started the company with a group of fellow Harvard University students, Lebônê has developed a microbial fuel cell (MFC). Their cells are cheap to manufacture and require very little maintenance. They are ideal to power LED lights and charge cell phones.

MFC are devices that convert chemical energy into electrical energy by the catalytic reaction of microorganisms. The device taps the energy that microbes generate as they break down organic matter. Very basically you dig a hole in the ground, fill it with animal and plant waste and connect an anode and a cathode with a circuit board and you have power. Once all of the components are put into a solid container the owner has his or her own soil-based power generator.

In laboratory conditions, up to 1500 Watts per cubic meter of reactor has been produced but in field tests the generating capacity is currently only about 115 watts per cubic meter. Lebônê hopes the batteries will come down to a cost of $15 per battery.
In May 2008 Lebônê Solutions won a $200 000 IFC grant in to roll out pilot devices in Tanzania and Namibia.

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