' Bacteria batteries' for energy storage

摘要

A breakthrough in battery technology, which combines waste carbon dioxide with tiny microbes, could help provide an answer to intermittent wind power.rnScientists at Pennsylvania State University are pioneering a method whereby electrical energy is stored as methane, which can then be burned to release power when it's needed.rnThe system's active 'ingredients' are a combination of tiny microbes and CO_2. Placed under an electrical current - for example from an off-grid renewable power source such as wind or solar - the microbes convert the CO_2 into methane. Professor Bruce Logan, head of the research team, explains that they work in a similar way to the natural process found in marshes.