Swedish scientists have tapped into a potential new power source: living plants.
A study in the journal
Science Advances details the method: Scientists put plant cuttings into water mixed with the polymer PEDOT-S. After the plants absorbed the water, hardened polymer remained inside them, creating a wire that conducts electricity using electrolytes from the plant.
The technology could be used to regulate plant physiology, such as controlling the rate or time flowers bloom to coincide with weather or water availability, Magnus Berggren, one of the study's authors, told
The New York Times.
But it could also be used to draw small amounts of energy from trees or other plants, he said.
"Today the most natural way to convert the chemical energy of a tree is to burn it, but maybe we could actually gently tap out some of the energy without killing it," Berggren said.