Dutch designer Ermi van Oers and a specialized group of scientists have developed a fascinating lamp that uses the natural cycle of a living plant to generate electricity without affecting its health.
The lamp, dubbed Living Light, uses microorganisms of plant origin to transform the chemical energy that a plant naturally produces during photosynthesis into electrical current. The lamp is 100% self-sufficient, meaning it can work without any connection to the domestic electrical network. Therefore, it doesn’t have to be plugged into any socket.
Ermi and her team are reproducing the technology known as ‘microbial energy’ in public areas and are working with the municipality of Rotterdam to illuminate one of its parks.
Ermi told local media Dezeen:
The potential is enormous; the public lighting could be connected to the trees. Forests could become power plants. Rice fields in Indonesia could produce food and electricity for the local population.
Energy can be obtained from organic components found in various places, such as VGF waste, urine, and the organic components that plants produce. My dream is that plants are part of our energy system. Other renewable sources do not work 24 hours a day. The wind doesn’t always blow, and the sun doesn’t always shine. Bacteria that feed on plants do provide energy in a continuous and unlimited way.
Ermi’s company Nova Innova wants to bring to light the power and value of nature and recover the relationship between man and nature. The Nova Innova team partnered with Plant-e to fight for a future where plants are part of the sustainable energy matrix, illuminating cities with the energy generated by urban parks, and the Amazonas can serve as a “power station.” This would give great value to the forests, forcing governments to build laws that oblige the care of nature and natural ecosystems.
Last year, engineers figured out how to make plants continuously glow green light by extracting DNA from bioluminescent mushrooms and embedding them into the plants. Their goals were that one day, such plants might be bright enough to illuminate an entire workspace.
