‘Energy out of thin air’: How electricity produced by bacteria could change how you charge your phone

BOSTON — For most people, constantly charging your phone can be an issue, but soon that might be a thing of the past. A revolutionary discovery at UMass Amherst could not only power your cell phone but eventually might be used in your car and your house.

Sometimes, groundbreaking inventions aren’t thought of, they’re discovered.

That’s what happened to the scientists at the UMass lab who found they could generate electricity from a microbe.

“Totally a serendipitous discovery,” said UMass Microbiology Professor Derek Lovely.

Graduate student Xiaomeng Liu was the one who discovered how to make energy out of thin air, as Lovely puts it.

“Unbelievable, I think is the right word," said Lovely. “It’s astonishing.”

Liu found a specific microbe that grew small wires called nanowires that conduct electricity, later discovering E. coli bacteria could produce even more energy.

Essentially, the billions of E. coli are looking for the wires, and once they make contact, energy is produced. The key to getting the electric current is in the moisture in the air. Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Dr. Jun Yao says the small patch of E. coli in a petri dish acts like a small cloud, conducting the energy, likening it to lightning on a much smaller scale.

“The ambient air essentially the humidity in the air carries the charge,” said Yao.

Three glass plates with E. coli film can generate enough juice to charge a regular battery twice. Now, the challenge lies in scaling these to generate even more power to be used on watches, cell phones, cars and more.

“Potentially, you could power a small house,” said Lovely.

The best part is the entire process is green and ecologically conscious from start to finish.

“It is really revolutionary, but to have green electronic material and produce sustainable electricity at the same time it’s just beyond my imagination," said Lovely.

While the discovery is still in its early stages, if all goes well it could be available for consumer use in the next couple of years.

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