At the moment, the rechargeable batteries we rely on in our gadgets don’t contain the most environmentally-friendly materials, and aren’t the type of thing anyone should be throwing away. They should be recycled at a specialist recycle center.

1. December 19, 2011
batteryfast.co.uk
Sony Unveils New Paper-powered Bio
Battery
Sony Unveils New Paper-powered Bio If such a battery were to go commercial, it could
Battery see certain waste products such as paper reused to
power batteries rather than being recycled outside
CloudTags: Sony , Paper-powered , Battery , Toshiba of the home. In order for that to happen, the battery
pa3534u-1brs batteries , Samsung nc10 battery life technology has to produce enough power to make
, Sony vgp-bps5 battery pack it viable. At the moment, that’s the sticking point,
and something Sony has already spent several years
trying to improve. It seems at best the bio-battery
will power a digital music player.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a bio-battery in
action. Early last year Sony demonstrated a fan
At the moment, the rechargeable batteries we rely being powered by a sugar-filled soft drink. We’ve
on in our gadgets don’t contain the most environ- also see a cell phone modified to run purely on Coca
mentally-friendly materials, and aren’t the type of Cola.
thing anyone should be throwing away. They should
http://www.batteryfast.co.uk/battery-technology/sony-unveils-new-paper-powered-bio-battery/
be recycled at a specialist recycle center. Ever since the need of sustainable development
has been identified as the sole means for a greener
What would be much more eco-friendly is a way earth, scientists, world over have been in search of
to create power from waste products, but at a level a power source which runs on waste material and
where an individual could do it themselves. Sony releases ecologically harmless byproducts. Electro-
has been working to create these so-called bio-batte- nic giant Sony has recently demonstrated a battery
ries, and has just shown one off at the Eco-Products which runs on shredded paper and produces water
2011 environmental products fair in Tokyo. as waste.
Sony’s idea is to provide a battery where by the user
adds their own fuel sourced from waste materials.
In this case, the proof of concept battery uses a mix-
ture of enzymes to break down shredded pieces
of paper. The paper provides the cellulose that is
broken down by a first set of enzymes to produce
sugar, the second set of enzymes then uses the sugar
to produce hydrogen ions and electrons. Finally, the
electrons are used to produce electricity through
a circuit, while the hydrogen ions form water by
being exposed to oxygen in the air.
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2. December 19, 2011
batteryfast.co.uk
Sony Unveils New Paper-powered Bio Battery
History point of view. This is the reason why there is so
much buzz around Sony’s new battery.
The next step forward would be to increase the
power output of the battery. If Sony’s eco battery
is indeed as good as it seems, then it would be a pio-
neer of biologically powered energy sources. And
using such sources would mean taking a big step
towards a cleaner earth.
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This isn’t the first battery to run on biological ele- below and continue the conversation, or subscribe
ments. The last decade has seen several such devices. to my feed and get articles like this delivered auto-
In 2007, Sony itself had come up with a battery which matically to your feed reader.
ran on sugar. But all of these prototypes were either
http://www.batteryfast.co.uk/battery-technology/sony-unveils-new-paper-powered-bio-battery/
too bulky or were unable to produce sufficient power
for them to be economically viable.
Science behind its working
The mechanism behind this battery is similar to
how a termite digests wood. A solution of water
and enzymes break down the cellulose present in
paper to release electrons and hydrogen ions. The
electrons create the current while the hydrogen ions
react with oxygen from the air to release water. As
demonstrated by Sony, this Sony battery produces
enough power to run a small fan. They claim that
it will also be able to run your iPod.
Advantages
The batteries which we normally use are lithium
based, and being non biodegradable, they are dis-
posed in landfills. Though lithium is not an envi-
ronment hazard, dumping billions of batteries is
not exactly the best solution from the environment
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