Branching Out: Tree Power

Three cheers for tree power!

Quick – how many renewable energy sources can you name?  Solar, wind, and geothermal easily come to mind.  But what about tree power?  No, I’m not talking about biomass (and even if I was, there is not consensus that its “renewable”).  Now, scientists are finding ways to directly tap into electrical current in trees.

Last year, researchers at MIT discovered the power that resides in the trunks and branches of living trees.  Trees generate as much as several hundred millivolts of electricity simply standing there.  That’s a start, but its not even equivalent to the energy of a AA battery.

Enter the scientific work of a University of Washington team.  It has designed a boost converter chip which stores the small amounts of electricity and then increases the voltage level.  The team also built an electric circuit that runs on 100% tree power.

It sounds like a very cool idea, particularly since no trees need be “harmed” in harvesting the power.  Yet, electricity from trees will not soon be powering lights or recharging cell phones.  Tree power is still too limited.  But, we could tap into the electrical current in trees to help collect important data from forests themselves.  Sensors used to detect forest fires and equipment to monitor environmental conditions in the woods may one day be “planted” in the forest and powered simply from the trees themselves.

Talk about renewable energy branching out!