plant electricity experiment

Scientists create electric circuits inside plants

Senior Lecturer in Plant Biochemistry, University of Westminster

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Plants power life on Earth. They are the original food source supplying energy to almost all living organisms and the basis of the fossil fuels that feed the power demands of the modern world. But burning the remnants of long-dead forests is changing the world in dangerous ways. Can we better harness the power of living plants today?

One way might be to turn plants into natural solar power stations that could convert sunlight into energy far more efficiently. To do this, we’d need a way of getting the energy out in the form of electricity. One company has found a way to harvest electrons deposited by plants into the soil beneath them. But new research from Finland looks at tapping plants’ energy directly by turning their internal structures into electric circuits.

Plants contain water-filled tubes called “xylem elements” that carry water from their roots to their leaves. The water flow also carries and distributes dissolved nutrients and other things such as chemical signals. The Finnish researchers, whose work is published in PNAS, developed a chemical that was fed into a rose cutting to form a solid material that could carry and store electricity.

Previous experiments have used a chemical called PEDOT to form conducting wires in the xylem, but it didn’t penetrate further into the plant. For the new research, they designed a molecule called ETE-S that forms similar electrical conductors but can also be carried wherever the stream of water travelling though the xylem goes.

This flow is driven by the attraction between water molecules. When water in a leaf evaporates, it pulls on the chain of molecules left behind, dragging water up through the plant all the way from the roots. You can see this for yourself by placing a plant cutting in food colouring and watching the colour move up through the xylem. The researchers’ method was so similar to the food colouring experiment that they could see where in the plant their electrical conductor had travelled to from its colour.

The result was a complex electronic network permeating the leaves and petals, surrounding their cells and replicating their pattern. The wires that formed conducted electricity up to a hundred times better than those made from PEDOT and could also store electrical energy in the same way as an electronic component called a capacitor.

How well these electrical networks formed surprised even their developers. This seems to be because when the roses were treated with ETE-S, they produced the same reactive chemicals that they use to kill invading microorganisms. These chemicals made the formation of the solid electrical conductor work much better inside the plant than when it was tested in the lab.

There are still challenges before this discovery can achieve its full potential. Perhaps most importantly, they need to find a way of getting ETE-S (or some further improved chemical) into intact, living plants. But the creation of “e-plants”, that is plants with integrated electronic circuits, now looks much closer.

So how could e-plants be used? The most exciting possibility will be if we can combine e-plant electrical storage and circuitry with some way to directly tap photosynthetic energy, creating a literally green energy source.

But the technology could also help us better understand regular plants. Plants do not have a nervous system as animals do, but they do use electrical signals both to control individual cells and two carry messages between different parts of the plant. Perhaps the most spectacular example of this is in the Venus flytrap, in which the snapping mechanism is activated by an electrical impulse .

Building electrical circuits into plants will allow us to listen into these messages more easily. Perhaps when we understand their “language” better, we will then be able to send instructions to the plant. For example turning on its defence systems if we know that it is at risk of disease.

Perhaps we could create electronic plants that function like machines. If a crop could tell us if it has too little water or fertiliser, or is being attacked by insects, we could move resources to where they are most needed, improving farming efficiency. Maybe one day you could even use the technology to adjust a flower’s fragrance to match your mood.

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• WHERE I WORK
• 09 August 2021

Power plants: making electricity from flowers and fruits

• Linda Nordling 0

Linda Nordling is a freelance writer in Cape Town, South Africa.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

María Fernanda Cerdá is a chemist at the University of the Republic in Montevideo. Credit: Pablo Albarenga for Nature

I build solar cells using natural dyes that I find in fruit and flowers. Plant pigments called anthocyanins absorb light and turn it into energy to fuel photosynthesis, and I harness that power to generate electricity. The technology to convert plant dyes into electricity was developed in Switzerland, but I’m applying it to plants that are indigenous to my home country, Uruguay, including its national flower, the ceibo ( Erythrina crista-galli ).

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Researchers Successfully Generate Electricity From Plants

Harvesting electricity from plants could have massive benefits to future zero emission power projects. | Image By Mrs_ya | Shutterstock.com

In the quest for renewable and sustainable energy, science is continuously experimenting with various alternative sources. Whether its sweet energy from sugar or a urine-powered fuel cell , scientists’ search for green energy often comes from the most unlikely sources.

Since nothing screams “green” more than generating electricity from plants, guess what some researchers did?

That’s right; they generated energy from plants. Here’s how it started.

An interdisciplinary team of biologists and roboticists at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia in Pontedera, Pisa discovered that living plants are an alternate source of power.

In order to prove this, they demonstrated that a single leaf could generate over 150 volts. In other words, that’s powering 100 LED light bulbs from just one leaf. Here is how it works.

Generating Electricity From Plants

Some plant leaves contain unique compositions which allow them to convert mechanical force into electrical energy.

First, the plant gathers the electric charges on its surface through a process called contact electrification. Then it transmits the charges into the inner tissues. Like electrical cables, the tissues send the generated electricity to other parts of the plant.

As a result, you can charge your smartphone by simply plugging it into the plant stem.

Since innovation never stops, the researchers decided to take it a step further. Using the principle described above, the researchers explained how a plant could convert wind into electricity.

Read More:  New Study Shows Deep Flaws of the Global Agricultural System

Generating electricity from a hybrid tree.

Taking the simple principle to the next level, the researchers modified a Nerium Oleander tree with artificial leaves.

The goal was simple, to convert wind into electrical energy. So, every time the wind blew and leaves moved, the hybrid tree produces electricity.

Since the electricity generated increases with the number of leaves touched, the smart approach is to take advantage of the plant’s surface. As such, any part of the leaves that has no natural covering is covered with artificial ones.

The hybrid tree experiment is the first step in the European-Funded Growbot project, coordinated by Barbara Mazzolai. The researchers believe that we could live in a future where electricity is partly derived from the plants around us.

Do you think this method will be able to harvest enough energy to sustainably power homes?

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Neuroscience for Everyone!

• Experiments

Getting Started with the Plant SpikerBox: Venus Flytrap Electrophysiology

Electrical impulses are not only relegated to the hearts, muscles, and brains of animals. Plants use them too to! In this plant electricity experiment, we will use the beautiful plant that Darwin himself called "one of the most wonderful in the world:" the Venus Flytrap.

What will you learn?

In this experiment, featured on the TED Main Stage , you will learn about plant electrophysiology and record the Action Potential of the Venus Flytrap.

Prerequisite Labs

Plant SpikerBox Venus Flytrap

Your nervous system allows you to sense and respond quickly to the environment around you. You have a nervous system, animals have nervous systems, but plants do not. But not having a nervous system does not mean you cannot sense and respond to the world. Plants can certainly sense the environment around them and move. You have seen your plants slowly turn their leaves towards sunlight by the window over a week, open their flowers in the day, and close their flowers during the night. Some plants can move in much more dramatic fashion, such as the Venus Flytrap and the Sensitive Mimosa .

The Venus Flytrap comes from the swamps of North Carolina, USA, and lives in very nutrient-poor, water-logged soil. It photosynthesizes like other plants, but it can't always rely on the sunlight for food. To supplement its food supply it traps and eats insects, extracting from them the nitrogen and phosphorous needed to form plant food (amino acids, nucleic acids, and other molecules).

If a wayward, unsuspecting insect touches a trigger hair, an Action Potential occurs in the leaves. This is a different Action Potential than what we are used to seeing in neurons, as it's based on the movement of calcium, potassium, and chloride ions (vs. movement of potassium and sodium as in the Action Potentials of neurons and muscles), and it is muuuuuuuuucccchhhhhh longer than anything we've seen before.

If the trigger hair is touched twice within 20 seconds (firing two Action Potentials within 20 seconds), the trap closes. The trap is not closing due to muscular action (plants do not have muscles), but rather due to an osmotic, rapid change in the shape of curvature of the trap leaves . Interestingly, the firing of Action Potentials is not always reliable, depending on time of year, temperature, health of plant, and/or other factors. Quite different from we humans, Action Potential failure is not devastating to a Venus Flytrap.

Before you begin, make sure you have the Backyard Brains SpikeRecorder . The Backyard Brains SpikeRecorder program allows you to visualize and save data on your computer when doing experiments. SpikeRecorder Software for Displaying and Saving Data on Computer

Video of Experiment

Print Materials

If you're looking for a PDF to print and scribble on, or a google doc to edit, check out this repository of print resources here!

In this experiment, we are going to measure the Action Potentials generated by plant cells.

• Find a Venus Flytrap. You can generally find them in museum science stores, but our favorite online supplier is Peter D'Amato's " "California Carnivores" store. If you live in Ann Arbor, MI, you can conveniently purchase them at Downtown Home & Garden
• Select an open trap you want to record from. If it is low growing plant, press the shorter of the two orange electrode stakes into the dirt until the silver electrode wire is pressing up against the side of the trap. If it is a tall Flytrap, use the larger orange electrode stake and do the same.

• Then, apply electrode gel where the silver electrode wire touches the Flytrap. Note: In the image below, you can see the "Trigger Hairs," the three pointy spikes inside the flytrap, which you will be poking soon!

• Ground the ground in the ground! ... Stick the grounding pin with short black wire in the pot's soil.

• Turn on your Plant SpikerBox. You are all set up!

• Open SpikeRecorder and wait a moment for the signal to normalize. If using your phone, you are immediately connected. If using your computer, pair your Plant SpikerBox with the SpikeRecorder software by clicking the "Plant" button that appears in the upper left corner of the screen. You can adjust your signal in SpikeRecorder by zooming in or out of the y-axis or by clicking on the + o - signs on the center left side of the screen. You can zoom in or out on the time scale (x-axis) with the scroll wheel on your mouse or two finger motion on your trackpad.
• With a plastic probe, carefully touch one of the trigger hairs once . If you double tap it, or touch two triggers, the trap will close! Don't close the trap yet!

• In the SpikeRecorder software, you should notice a large, slow Spike! This is the signal, the Action Potential, which the Venus Flytrap uses to detect prey and to close its trap!

• Start a timer and wait 20s or more. After an Action Potential is triggered in the Flytrap it begins "Counting" (Somehow... someway... we don't quite know how). If it is stimulated again closely after the first stimulation, it will send one last Spike and then close its trap, at which point you will have to wait 1-2 days for the trap to open again...

Discussion / Further Work

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• Green Power Electricity Living Plants

True Green Power: Electricity Generated from Living Plants

Researchers have developed a system to harvest electricity from plant leaves.

Plants provide shade, they produce raw materials such as cotton and wood, and they also play a key role in the absorption of carbon dioxide. But the researchers at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Technology Institute) in Pisa have found an innovative application that gives “green power” a new meaning. They are harvesting electricity from plants. Nevertheless, this is not their first attempt to harness the potential of botany for a technological project . Back in 2012, they developed Plantoid, the first robot plant that replicated the features of plant roots to create a system able to measure underground nutrients and moisture. Now, in their latest experiment, they have leveraged the electricity from plant leaves to power LED lights.

Their approach for this new power source based on living organisms taps into the ability of some plants to transform mechanical forces into electrical currents. In other words, when the leaves move or touch another material, they undergo a process known as electrification, with the current flowing from the branches to the stem. What the Italian team has done is, basically, connecting a socket to a plant and carrying that electricity over to a light bulb. The measurements show that a single leaf can produce up to 150 volts, enough to simultaneously power 100 LED lights every time it moves.

Building upon this principle, the team modified a Nerium oleander tree with artificial leaves that come in contact with the natural Nerium oleander leaves. When the wind blows, the synthetic leaves move and rub against the natural ones, greatly multiplying the power generated by the plant. Hence, it would be feasible to harness the electricity produces by trees and even transform forests into veritable power plants.

The initiative of the Italian researchers is part of the EU-funded Growbot project , which aims to develop bioinspired robots able to grow autonomously by using 3D-printing .

A green cyborg

One of the basic traits of plants is that they remain firmly rooted in the soil where they live. The only mobility they enjoy is directing their leaves towards the light in their growth process. Or so it used to be. Because the scientists at MIT’s Media Lab in the USA have just announced an innovative technology that provides mobility to plants and allows them traveling to areas with more light exposure. The system, codenamed Elowan, is a plant on wheels with sensor-equipped leaves. When the light shines on them, the plant produces bioelectrochemical signals that are detected by the electrodes. In turn, they relay the information to the robotic system , which moves towards the light. This could be the starting point for a new generation of biohybrids.

The approach of this technological project is to use the kind of sensors or self-healing qualities found in nature to optimize human technology. A collaborative economy with the natural world instead of the relentless exploitation of its resources.

Source:   Science Daily , Digital Trends

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Plants create energy

Experiments have proven that plants can serve as a source of clean and renewable energy.

As part of the European project PlantPower, researchers are studying whether this technology is suitable for large-scale applications.They are also examining the technical feasibility and the economic profitability.

Scientists all over the world are looking for alternatives to fossil fuels. Plant materials are already used as an energy source through bio-fermentation. Now it appears that living plants can also contribute to energy production. In a plant microbial fuel cell, living plants work together with micro-organisms to create electricity. This results in clean and renewable energy, while the plant remains alive. The first practical tests have been very promising. In projects supported by the EU and Agentschap NL (an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs), European and Dutch institutes, universities, and businesses are cooperating to gain more knowledge about this technology and its applications.

Plant microbial fuel cell

The plant microbial fuel cell , developed by Bert Hamelers of the Sub-department of Environmental Technology at Wageningen University, was first described in 2008. The cell is based on the following principle: With the aid of sunlight, plants convert CO2 into organic compounds (photosynthesis). The plant uses some of the compounds which arise in this way for its own growth, while the remainder is eliminated through the roots. Micro-organisms which are naturally found in the ground around the roots of plants break down these organic compounds. This process causes electrons to be released. It is possible to gather these electrons with an electrode and use them to generate electricity. This system is capable of supplying green energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The direct current which is produced in this manner has a low voltage (1V) and as such is not dangerous for animals or plants.

Wageningen scientists

Some of the topics which the PlantPower researchers are examining include the processes in the plant, the micro-organisms in the rhizosphere (root zone), the existing energy losses, and the most suitable materials for a plant microbial fuel cell. Scientists from Wageningen have a prominent role at PlantPower. Bert Hamelers, Assistant Professor at the Sub-department of Environmental Technology, acts as project coordinator. Staff members of his sub-department focus on combining the various constituent processes into a viable system in the plant microbial fuel cell. Researchers from Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture (website in Dutch) are primarily studying the substances eliminated by the plants and the applicability of the cell for food crops such as tomato plants.

Producing electricity

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stories on progress Plant-e makes electricity from living plants.

January 1, 2024.

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Plants could soon provide our electricity. In a small way they’re already doing that in research labs and greenhouses at project Plant-e.

Plant-e is a university and commercially sponsored research group at Wageningen Univ. + Research in the Netherlands.

The Plant Microbial Fuel Cell from Plant-e can generate electricity from the natural interaction between plant roots and soil bacteria.

How it happens.

It works by taking advantage of the up to 70 percent of organic material produced by a plant’s photo-synthesis process that cannot be used by the plant — and is excreted through the roots.

As natural occurring bacteria around the roots break down this organic residue, electrons are released as a waste product. By placing an electrode close to the bacteria to absorb these electrons, the research team — led by Marjolein Helder PhD — is able to generate electricity.

name: by Marjolein Helder PhD bio: researcher :: botanist + environmentalist school: Wageningen Univ. + Research

Solar panels are making more energy per square meter — but we expect to reduce the costs of our system technology in the future. And our system can be used for a variety of applications.

Our tech is making electricity — but also could be used as roof insulation or as a water collector. On a bigger scale it’s possible to produce rice and electricity at the same time, and in that way combine food and energy production.

— Marjolein Helder PhD

Uses for this valuable tech.

Plant Microbial Fuel Cells can be used on many scales. An experimental 15 square meter model can produce enough energy to power a computer notebook.

Currently Plant-e is working on a system for large scale electricity production in existing green areas like wetlands and rice paddy fields.

A first prototype of a green electricity roof has been installed on one building at Wageningen Univ. + Research — and researchers are keeping a close eye on what is growing there. The first field pilots will be started in 2014. The tech was patented in 2007.

After 5 years of lab research: Plant-e is now taking the first steps toward commercializing the technology. In the future, bio-electricity from plants could produce as much as 3.2 watts per square meter of plant growth.

note: with materials from EuroNews

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part 1. | Meet Plant-e. part 2. | A story on Planet-e. — watch part 3. | Living plants generate electricity. — watch part 4. | The power of plants. — watch

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Plants as living systems for harvesting electricity.

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Setup with artificial leaf for converting contact against plant leaves into electricity, at the ... [+] Italian Institute of Technology.

Leaves fluttering in the wind are a common sight. Now imagine if that motion could be harnessed to power a device.

It might sound far-fetched, but it’s possible thanks to the phenomenon of triboelectricity , or electricity generated by friction, then separation, between two surfaces. If you’ve ever experienced static electricity on, say, a sweater or a balloon, you’ve experienced the triboelectric effect.

The triboelectric effect has been known for many years, but it happens very quickly and the mechanism still isn’t well understood, according to Fabian Meder, a researcher in the Bioinspired Soft Robotics group of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT). Simply put, “It’s like an exchange of charges from one material to the other.”

One relatively recent discovery related to the triboelectric effect is that it applies to living materials like plants. Specifically, the tissue within plant leaves can conduct electricity, while the cuticles on the surface of the leaves are capable of insulating the conductors.

Serena Armiento, a PhD student at IIT, explains that it took some time for her research group to develop a setup for exploring this, as the limited tools available to study the triboelectric effect can’t easily be used with plants. Their existing setup attaches an artificial leaf to a natural leaf and then creates some wind using a fan. The system is rigged to a set of LEDs. The flapping of the two leaves against each other generates charges, which are induced into an electrode made of indium tin oxide.

Armiento stresses that “the artificial leaf does not harm the plant.” It’s made of a soft material that’s transparent (so that it doesn’t impede light). The researchers tested different materials for the artificial leaf and found that a type of silicone rubber produced the highest charges.

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They’ve also used water instead of, or in addition to , wind as the source of contact. “The reason why we added rain as another output,” Armiento explains, is that “this type of solid-solid contact electrification tends to become less useful in high humidity.”

The exact amount of power depends on the amount of wind, the surface area, the strength of the impact, the intensity of the falling water, the height from which it falls, and the extent to which the leaves repel or attract water . And a special silicone-based coating can be applied to boost the ability to produce counter-charges, and thus generate contact electricity.

The system works best on medium to large, fairly sturdy leaves. The researchers have tested it on ficus, rhododendron, ivy, and other plants.

They’re also working on biodegradable designs, but face some technical challenges. For instance, they would need biodegradable materials that wouldn’t degrade with light exposure or rain. They would also require a plant-based material that carries a different charge to plants themselves, in order to exploit the triboelectric effect.

Some other scientists are working on similar problems. Researchers at Zhejiang University in China have built triboelectric nanogenerators from plant proteins , which have helped to enhance the growth of bok choi due to the growth-promoting effects of electric fields.

It all sounds incredible, but commercial use is likely a decade or more away. Though they’re very far away from market applications, “they are quite affordable already,” Armiento says. Even making each one by hand, each artificial leaf costs only US$ 2 to produce.

The IIT experiments so far have been very controlled, generally using highly purified water and artificially simulated wind and rain indoors (although they have started outdoor tests ). They can’t exactly control the charge status of naturally falling water.

They also want to shrink the size of the system. The aim is to make the circuit more compact.

Armiento compares it to her Fitbit, which is chock full of sensors yet fits comfortably on her wrist. The bare bones of the system would be a capacitor (to store the electricity), a diode bridge (to convert alternating current to direct current), and an LED (to emit the light).

It’s important to keep the realistic scale in mind. The amounts of electricity these can generate so far are very modest. A contact electrification system like this is never going to be able to compete with a wind turbine.

But Armiento believes that it could be used in more precise monitoring applications using electricity, like agriculture, sensing, and signalling. For instance, other researchers have used plants to harvest electricity to monitor sugar levels in fruit, or to sense humidity levels.

Or a plant electricity system could simply power lights in a relatively small space. “I can’t wait to put this in my garden,” Armiento says, reflecting on reduced lighting in recent months because of rising electricity costs. One advantage is that this system makes use of existing resources – the plants around us – rather than generating more waste.

The reaction they get from laypeople, Armiento says, is: “Wow. I would summarize this as wow.”

Meder had his own ‘wow’ moment the first time he managed to light up a single LED using the contact electrification system. “That was a really nice moment. Because you don’t think that it’s possible.”

And they’re extending these ‘wow’ moments. They’ve even used ivy leaves as radio antennae. In one experiment, they found that a plant could detect radio frequencies 8 kilometers away . Meder explains, “The inner part of the plant contains water and ions. It is basically an ion conductor.” Thus a plant can act as a radio antenna – although it’s not clear what kind of biological function it would serve to be able to detect radio signals.

“There’s a lot of things that plants can’t do and we cannot,” Armiento says in summary. Indeed, they can even emit ultrasonic sounds . “I would say that in general people don’t have a very clear idea of the possibilities of plants.”

This story was reported during a journalism-in-residence fellowship at the Italian Institute for Technology (IIT), funded by the European Research Council (ERC).

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Turning Energy Plants Produce Into Usable Electricity

Plant-e, a company in the Netherlands, is placing conductors in the soil underneath plants to collect excess energy from photosynthesis

Don Willmott, XPRIZE contributor

It may sound like an idea dreamed up at Woodstock with the help of some mind-altering substances, but researchers are finding ways to tap into the power of photosynthesis to generate at least small amounts of electricity. As it turns out, plants are more efficient than they need to be, and they disperse excess energy that we can collect. Are we talking about megawatts from marigolds? Not exactly, but beyond the raw science are practical applications that shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand.

Dutch researchers at Wageningen University first patented the process of collecting plant power in 2007, and today those patents are in the hands of a Netherlands-based company called Plant-e , which is trying hard to productize the natural processes that make it all happen.

What’s actually going on down there in the dirt? In photosynthesis, a plant’s leaves absorb sunlight and blend its energy with water and carbon dioxide to make the sugars on which the plant feeds. What’s interesting is that the plant usually makes too much, dispersing perhaps half of its food into the soil. Once there, bacteria break down the sugars, and protons and electrons are among the resulting byproducts.

Plant-e’s idea is to insert a conductor into the soil to collect the electrons, which are then turned into electricity. The company says the process doesn’t interrupt plant growth; the plants just continue to reach for the sky. It’s renewable and sustainable. The only glitch: the process doesn’t work when the ground freezes.

So let’s talk numbers. Plant-e says that a one-square-meter garden should be able to produce 28 kilowatt-hours per year, which means that an average American house might be able to be powered by several thousand square feet of active growth. That’s not practical, but there are countless places around the world where people live in much smaller homes and have much lower energy demands. And many of the 1.4 billion people worldwide who don’t have access to electricity are active farmers or gardeners.

Plant-e also has its eye on temperate wetlands, peat bogs, mangrove swamps, river deltas, and rice paddies where it could generate power at scale for things like Wi-Fi hotspots, mobile chargers, and nighttime lighting to provide real benefits in poorer locales. For cities, Plant-e is testing modular green rooftop systems, 15 square meters of which would be enough to charge a cell phone. That may not sound exactly earth-shattering, but every little bit helps.

This article was originally published by the editorial team at XPRIZE , which designs and operates incentivized competitions to bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity.

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Understanding how plants use sunlight

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Plants rely on the energy in sunlight to produce the nutrients they need. But sometimes they absorb more energy than they can use, and that excess can damage critical proteins. To protect themselves, they convert the excess energy into heat and send it back out. Under some conditions, they may reject as much as 70 percent of all the solar energy they absorb.

“If plants didn’t waste so much of the sun’s energy unnecessarily, they could be producing more biomass,” says  Gabriela S. Schlau-Cohen , the Cabot Career Development Assistant Professor of Chemistry. Indeed, scientists estimate that algae could grow as much as 30 percent more material for use as biofuel. More importantly, the world could increase crop yields — a change needed to prevent the significant shortfall between agricultural output and demand for food expected by 2050.

The challenge has been to figure out exactly how the photoprotection system in plants works at the molecular level, in the first 250 picoseconds of the photosynthesis process. (A picosecond is a trillionth of a second.)

“If we could understand how absorbed energy is converted to heat, we might be able to rewire that process to optimize the overall production of biomass and crops,” says Schlau-Cohen. “We could control that switch to make plants less hesitant to shut off the protection. They could still be protected to some extent, and even if a few individuals died, there’d be an increase in the productivity of the remaining population.”

First steps of photosynthesis

Critical to the first steps of photosynthesis are proteins called light-harvesting complexes, or LHCs. When sunlight strikes a leaf, each photon (particle of light) delivers energy that excites an LHC. That excitation passes from one LHC to another until it reaches a so-called reaction center, where it drives chemical reactions that split water into oxygen gas, which is released, and positively charged particles called protons, which remain. The protons activate the production of an enzyme that drives the formation of energy-rich carbohydrates needed to fuel the plant’s metabolism.

But in bright sunlight, protons may form more quickly than the enzyme can use them, and the accumulating protons signal that excess energy is being absorbed and may damage critical components of the plant’s molecular machinery. So some plants have a special type of LHC — called a light-harvesting complex stress-related, or LHCSR — whose job is to intervene. If proton buildup indicates that too much sunlight is being harvested, the LHCSR flips the switch, and some of the energy is dissipated as heat.

It’s a highly effective form of sunscreen for plants — but the LHCSR is reluctant to switch off that quenching setting. When the sun is shining brightly, the LHCSR has quenching turned on. When a passing cloud or flock of birds blocks the sun, it could switch it off and soak up all the available sunlight. But instead, the LHCSR leaves it on — just in case the sun suddenly comes back. As a result, plants reject a lot of energy that they could be using to build more plant material.

An evolutionary success

Much research has focused on the quenching mechanism that regulates the flow of energy within a leaf to prevent damage. Optimized by 3.5 billion years of evolution, its capabilities are impressive. First, it can deal with wildly varying energy inputs. In a single day, the sun’s intensity can increase and decrease by a factor of 100 or even 1,000. And it can react to changes that occur slowly over time — say, at sunrise — and those that happen in just seconds, for example, due to a passing cloud.

Researchers agree that one key to quenching is a pigment within the LHCSR — called a carotenoid — that can take two forms: violaxanthin (Vio) and zeaxanthin (Zea). They’ve observed that LHCSR samples are dominated by Vio molecules under low-light conditions and Zea molecules under high-light conditions. Conversion from Vio to Zea would change various electronic properties of the carotenoids, which could explain the activation of quenching. However, it doesn’t happen quickly enough to respond to a passing cloud. That type of fast change could be a direct response to the buildup of protons, which causes a difference in pH from one region of the LHCSR to another.

Clarifying those photoprotection mechanisms experimentally has proved difficult. Examining the behavior of samples containing thousands of proteins doesn’t provide insights into the molecular-level behavior because various quenching mechanisms occur simultaneously and on different time scales — and in some cases, so quickly that they’re difficult or impossible to observe experimentally.

Testing the behavior of proteins one at a time

Schlau-Cohen and her MIT chemistry colleagues, postdoc Toru Kondo and graduate student Wei Jia Chen, decided to take another tack. Focusing on the LHCSR found in green algae and moss, they examined what was different about the way that stress-related proteins rich in Vio and those rich in Zea respond to light — and they did it one protein at a time.

According to Schlau-Cohen, their approach was made possible by the work of her collaborator Roberto Bassi and his colleagues Alberta Pinnola and Luca Dall’Osto at the University of Verona, in Italy. In earlier research, they had figured out how to purify the individual proteins known to play key roles in quenching. They thus were able to provide samples of individual LHCSRs, some enriched with Vio carotenoids and some with Zea carotenoids.

To test the response to light exposure, Schlau-Cohen’s team uses a laser to shine picosecond light pulses onto a single LHCSR. Using a highly sensitive microscope, they can then detect the fluorescence emitted in response. If the LHCSR is in quench-on mode, it will turn much of the incoming energy into heat and expel it. Little or no energy will be left to be reemitted as fluorescence. But if the LHCSR is in quench-off mode, all of the incoming light will come out as fluorescence.

“So we’re not measuring the quenching directly,” says Schlau-Cohen. “We’re using decreases in fluorescence as a signature of quenching. As the fluorescence goes down, the quenching goes up.”

Using that technique, the MIT researchers examined the two proposed quenching mechanisms: the conversion of Vio to Zea and a direct response to a high proton concentration.

To address the first mechanism, they characterized the response of the Vio-rich and Zea-rich LHCSRs to the pulsed laser light using two measures: the intensity of the fluorescence (based on how many photons they detect in one millisecond) and its lifetime (based on the arrival time of the individual photons).

Using the measured intensities and lifetimes of responses from hundreds of individual LHCSR proteins, they generated the probability distributions shown in the figure above. In each case, the red region shows the most likely outcome based on results from all the single-molecule tests. Outcomes in the yellow region are less likely, and those in the green region are least likely.

The left figure shows the likelihood of intensity-lifetime combinations in the Vio samples, representing the behavior of the quench-off response. Moving to the Zea results in the middle figure, the population shifts to a shorter lifetime and also to a much lower-intensity state — an outcome consistent with Zea being the quench-on state.

To explore the impact of proton concentration, the researchers changed the pH of their system. The results just described came from individual proteins suspended in a solution with a pH of 7.5. In parallel tests, the researchers suspended the proteins in an acidic solution of pH 5, thus in the presence of abundant protons, replicating conditions that would prevail under bright sunlight.

The right figure shows results from the Vio samples. Shifting from pH 7.5 to pH 5 brings a significant decrease in intensity, as it did with the Zea samples, so quenching is now on. But it brings only a slightly shorter lifetime, not the significantly shorter lifetime observed with Zea.

The dramatic decrease in intensity with the Vio-to-Zea conversion and the lowered pH suggests that both are quenching behaviors. But the different impact on lifetime suggests that the quenching mechanisms are different.

“Because the most likely outcome—the red region—moves in different directions, we know that two distinct quenching processes are involved,” says Schlau-Cohen.

Their investigation brought one more interesting observation. The intensity-lifetime results for Vio and Zea in the two pH environments are consistent when they’re taken at time intervals spanning seconds or even minutes in a given sample. According to Schlau-Cohen, the only explanation for such stability is that the responses are due to differing structures, or conformations, of the protein.

“It was known that both pH and the switch of the carotenoid from violaxanthin to zeaxanthin played a role in quenching,” she says. “But what we saw was that there are two different conformational switches at work.”

Based on their results, Schlau-Cohen proposes that the LHCSR can have three distinct conformations. When sunlight is dim, it assumes a conformation that allows all available energy to come in. If bright sunlight suddenly returns, protons quickly build up and reach a critical concentration at which point the LHCSR switches to a quenching-on conformation — probably a more rigid structure that permits energy to be rejected by some mechanism not yet fully understood. And when light increases slowly, the protons accumulate over time, activating an enzyme that in turn accumulates, in the process causing a carotenoid in the LHCSR to change from Vio to Zea — a change in both composition and structure.

“So the former quenching mechanism works in a few seconds, while the latter works over time scales of minutes to hours,” says Schlau-Cohen. Together, those conformational options explain the remarkable control system that enables plants to regulate energy uptake from a source that’s constantly changing.

Exploring what comes next

Schlau-Cohen is now turning her attention to the next important step in photosynthesis — the rapid transfer of energy through the network of LHCs to the reaction center. The structure of individual LHCs has a major impact on how quickly excitation energy can jump from one protein to the next. Some investigators are therefore exploring how the LHC structure may be affected by interactions between the protein and the lipid membrane in which it’s suspended.

However, their experiments typically involve sample proteins mixed with detergent, and while detergent is similar to natural lipids in some ways, its impact on proteins can be very different, says Schlau-Cohen. She and her colleagues have therefore developed a new system that suspends single proteins in lipids more like those found in natural membranes. Already, tests using ultrafast spectroscopy on those samples has shown that one key energy-transfer step occurs 30 percent faster than measured in detergents. Those results support the value of the new technique in exploring photosynthesis and demonstrate the importance of using near-native lipid environments in such studies.

Research on the heat-dissipation mechanism was supported by the Center for Excitonics, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the US Department of Energy; a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar Award; and the European Economic Community projects AccliPhot and SE2B. Research on energy transfer was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy, and by the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology.

This article appears in the  Autumn 2018  issue of Energy Futures , the magazine of the MIT Energy Initiative.

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• Paper: “Single-molecule spectroscopy of LHCSR1 protein dynamics identifies two distinct states responsible for multi-timescale photosynthetic photoprotection”
• Paper: "Impact of the lipid bilayer on energy transfer kinetics in the photosynthetic protein LH2”
• Gabriela Schlau-Cohen
• Energy Futures Magazine
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‘The world is not prepared:’ How AI energy thirst might tap into geothermal power

By Mack DeGeurin

Posted on Sep 4, 2024 2:51 PM EDT

9 minute read

Credit: Stone/Arctic-Images via Getty Images

Tech companies champing at the bit to create the latest, greatest generative AI models face an uncomfortable dilemma. Data-hungry models like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini rely on troves of digital material in data centers that require massive amounts of energy for processing and constant cooling. Some estimates suggest this swelling energy demand could account for nine percent of all US electricity by the end of the decade. That’s up from around four percent today, a steep increase experts attribute in part to Big Tech’s brewing generative AI arms race. Renewable energy sources like wind and solar aren’t ready to meet demand alone. Instead, much of the new energy could come from fossil fuel sources which could undermine many of these companies’ ambitious “net zero” and carbon neutral pledges . 

Tech companies are scrambling in an effort to find more renewable energy to keep those climate goals within striking distance. Some are even looking to a new, more advanced form of geothermal power as a potential partial saving grace. Last week, Facebook-owner Meta announced a new deal with the Texas-based geothermal energy startup Sage Geosystems to develop new power plants potentially capable of delivering 150 megawatts of carbon-free baseload power, reportedly enough to power 70,000 homes , to Meta by the end of the decade. If successful, the ambitious effort could offer tech companies a much needed clean energy boost to help meet their staggering energy demands. It would also mark a critical inflection point for modern geothermal, which is coming of age on the backs of techniques and expertise gleaned, maybe ironically, from the oil and gas industry.  

“I think that the world is not prepared for what is about to happen in terms of AI demand,” Jamie Beard, executive director of Project InnerSpace, a nonprofit focused on promoting geothermal power, told Popular Science.  

Beard said the tech industry and geothermal startups are at a “convergence.” After years of development and tests modern geothermal is ready to start serving larger businesses. Tech, in desperate need of new cleaner energy sources, is ready to invest. Beard and others in the geothermal space are optimistic new startups like Sage are ready to help meet new energy demands, though experts say it’s still unclear whether or not this still developing industry can scale operations and reduce prices fast enough to be viable in a rapid-fire AI environment. 

Modern geothermal: ‘It’s not just Iceland’

Geothermal power, at its core, isn’t exactly new. Traditionally, the practice of transferring heat naturally stored under the Earth’s crust into power was limited to volcanos, geysers, and hot springs—all places where the heat simmers near the surface. That method works for heating and energy storage but is especially limited and accounts for less than .5% of overall US electricity generation . A wave of so-called “next generation geothermal” startups like Sage Geosystems is looking to vastly expand those geographical limitations.

Instead of locking themselves into areas with volcanic activity, these companies survey the country for far more plentiful supplies of hot solid rocks found underground. Taking a page out of natural gas extraction methods, the geothermal companies create many fractures within the piping hot rock and pour in water that gets heated to temperatures approaching 300 degrees Fahrenheit. In Sage‘s case, CEO Cindy Taff told Popular Science they drill into rocks with a mixture of water, a heavy powdery rock, and a polymer. The fracking fluid is then removed.

Those heated reservoirs can then be used to generate electricity in a turbine that reportedly creates 99% less carbon dioxide than similarly sized fossil fuel plants. Details about the new Sage plant powering Meta’s data centers remains scarce. Taff said they are still working with geologists and Meta for an exact location but noted it will be somewhere “east of the Rockies.” Taff said she expects the facility could require around 100 acres of space and a staff of around 40 or 50 to operate it. A Meta spokesperson confirmed its partnership with Sage is aiming to deliver up to 150 megawatts of power. The company didn’t comment when asked how its investments in AI may be altering its overall energy demand.

“As our infrastructure grows, we need a diverse portfolio of energy sources especially something like geothermal that operates steadily throughout the day,” the Meta spokesperson said. “We are excited to partner with Sage on this promising technology.“

The geothermal energy produced by Sage won’t feed directly into Meta servers. Instead, the spokesperson said the energy will go to the energy grid the company’s data centers are connected to. In general, data centers operated by Meta and other tech firms still take in electricity produced in part by fossil fuels. Meta attempts to offset those carbon emissions by matching its total annual electricity use with renewable energy purchases . This matching process, which often involves companies purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), isn’t perfect. Research shows it can be difficult to determine exactly where energy pulled from the grid is coming from, which can result in inaccurate offsets. Still, this multiple step matching process is how large corporations like Meta can technically claim they are cutting down fossil fuel use on sustainability reports . Geothermal energy will be one more addition to Meta’s renewable offsets which they need to increase as their demand for electricity balloons. 

For Taff, a top priority moving forward is burning down costs down to the point where geothermal is competitive with natural gas. Ideally, they would like it to be an attractive energy solution even if their buyers aren’t necessarily committed to reducing their carbon footprint. Initial upfront capital investment from large tech companies eager to show the world they aren’t relying solely on fossil fuels to meet increased energy demands put geothermal companies in a unique position to cash in on hefty investments they could use to make future operation cheaper and more accessible. At the same time, it’s not guaranteed Sage, or any geothermal company, can scale fast enough to meet massive new tech energy demands. Geothermal startups partnering with tech companies may look appealing, but it’s worth remembering the renewable power source will only initially make up a small portion of those firms’ overall energy consumption. It remains to be seen whether geothermal can, or ever will, make up a majority of tech’s energy base. 

“You can’t do it [geothermal] everywhere, but where we can do it, we would like to get those costs down where it is the energy or the power of choice because of the cost and because it’s clean,” Taff said. 

Fracking tech could make geothermal more widely available 

Geothermal isn’t currently a major energy producer in the US but there are signs that could change in the coming decades. A recent roadmap from the US Department of Energy predicts Geothermal energy capacity could increase by 20 times current levels by 2050. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates geothermal could supply 12% of overall US electricity by that same date. Expansion isn’t limited to data centers either. Fervo, another Texas-based competitor in the geothermal energy space which previously partnered with Google to create a 5 megawatt pilot plant in Nevada, is currently building out a 400 megawatt plant in Utah which is expected to start selling electricity to California utility companies starting next year. Taff, the Sage Geosystems CEO, says they’ve also received interest from the US Department of Defense. 

“I think geothermal is going to be a bigger piece of the [overall energy] pie,” Taff said. 

Cornell University professor and biomolecular engineering expert Jefferson Tester expressed optimism about Meta’s deal with Sage and told Popular Science he thinks geothermal could be an attractive energy source both due to its theoretical abundance and availability unlike wind solar which are dependent on weather and time of day. 

“People don’t necessarily associate looking at the ground they are walking on as a resource available to them,” Tester said. “They can feel the wind and sun but they can’t feel geothermal.” 

But geothermal isn’t a magic bullet either. Costs associated with operations are still high. While the industry did receive meaningful funding from the Biden administrations’ Inflation Reduction Act, geothermal generally has received less federal support than other renewable sources. There’s also real environmental concerns. Studies show the process used for cracking open hot underground rocks, similar to those pursued by natural gas fracking companies, could lead to disruption or “induced seismicity.” 

Another word for that is earthquakes. Reports link new geothermal techniques to a magnitude 5.5 earthquake in South Korea in 2017 which injured dozens of people. When asked about potential earthquakes, Beard says those concerns seemed “slightly overblown” and may be avoided by companies drilling away from fault lines. 

“I think that any type of risk like seismicity or concerns with fracking can be managed when done appropriately,” Beard said. 

AI energy demands are threatening tech’s climate goals 

The rapid rise of ever more powerful generative AI models is making the tech industry’s energy appetite all the more insatiable. Querying OpenAI’s ChatGPT, according to a recent forecast released by financial giant Goldman Sachs, requires around 10 times as much electricity as a typical Google search. And that’s just for text responses. The overall data generated by emerging generative AI image and video models like OpenAI’s Sora “have no precedent” according to the report. That same forecast suggests more than half of new energy used to meet that AI-propelled demand could come from non-renewable sources. 

“Those are just massive shifts that I don’t think that the world is prepared for right now,” Beard said. 

xAI, the AI company founded by billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk, recently drew the ire of activists in Tennessee for allegedly using gas turbines to power its new data centers in Memphis, Tennessee, and subsequently worsening the city’s ongoing smog issues. Google, meanwhile, recently released a report saying its overall emissions had actually increased by 13% in 2023 compared to the year before despite its pledge of getting to net zero by 2023. That increase, the report noted, was turbocharged by energy demand for AI projects. 

“Whether or not technology companies want to issue press releases about it, we’re going to need the speed and scale of oil and gas,” Beard added. 

Experts speaking with Popular Science broadly agreed the next five to ten years could play a critical role in determining whether or not modern geothermal can actually gain traction as a viable alternative to fossil fuels. The sudden demand for new, non fossil-fuel energy caused by the AI moment means tech firms in particular may be more willing to open up their deep wallets to support the industry. 

At the same time it’s unclear whether the new plants and the theoretical abundance of hot rock will create enough reliable energy fast enough to meet the moment. Geothermal could mature into a viable, cleaner alternative to fossil fuels at scale but it will require a level of patience and persistence tech companies in particular aren’t exactly known for. Oil and gas providers, meanwhile, loom ever present in the background, more than willing to fire up their plants to satiate AI’s ravenous energy appetite.

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By Andrew Paul

Top 10: Hydrogen Projects

The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that 306 million tonnes of green hydrogen needs to be produced annually by 2050 to meet net zero targets. 

It says significant strides must be made to make hydrogen — a critical player in the pursuit of a sustainable and carbon-neutral future and arguably the fuel of the future — more accessible and affordable to reach the agency’s targets .

Here are 10 of the world’s most cutting-edge hydrogen developments that are leading the charge toward a more hydrogen-abundant future.

10. Australian Renewable Energy Hub

A proposal to create one of the world's largest renewable energy plants in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, the Australian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH) will be a phased development that on completion should supply renewable power to local customers in the large mining region, as well as producing green hydrogen for the domestic Australian market and for export to major international users. Formerly known as the Asian Renewable Energy Hub, it is being developed by bp, Macquarie, InterContinental Energy and CWP.

Located in the northwest region of Mauritania, Africa, CWP is developing the AMAN project which comprises 30GW of mixed generation. The ultra-large-scale green hydrogen project will combine the solar and wind resources — in abundance in the area — with green hydrogen production. As it stands, AMAN is transitioning to Pre-FEED stage with the second phase of resource measurement campaign under way. The project will, on completion, cover a 8,500km2 site. AMAN supports the northwest African nation’s aim to become a major exporter of renewable H2 to Europe.

8. Green Energy Oman

Green Energy Oman (GEO) works to supply the world with green fuels in a decarbonised economy. It is a 25GW wind and solar green fuels facility that will utilise Oman’s wind and sunshine to turn seawater into green fuels ammonia, methanol and synthetic fuels as well as hydrogen. The project also has the potential to supply the local economy with cheap clean power.

Likely to be fully operational at the start of the next decade, GEO is expected to generate 1.8 million tons of green hydrogen per annum. It is being developed by a consortium of global energy leaders consisting of OQ, InterContinental Energy, EnerTech and Shell.

7. Hyrasia One

Svevind Energy’s Kazakhstan-based renewable hydrogen and ammonia mega-project Hyrasia One is one of the world’s largest projects under development to produce green hydrogen. It will produce up to two million tons of green hydrogen, or 11 million tons of green ammonia, per year.

The development is split into two phases, one focusing on the wind and solar parks to achieve the required 40GW renewable energy capacity, with the second on the industrial-scale facility for hydrogen and ammonia production. The project is well placed as the central Asian country is suitably located to become a major hub in the hydrogen market thanks to its location between major European markets and demand centres in East Asia.

6. Unnamed SCZONE Ain Sokhna project

Part of advances in plans for Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) to become a global green fuels hub, the ACME site is expected to produce 2.1 million tonnes of hydrogen. The use of its products remains unknown, but it is suggested it could be used for refuelling ships passing through the Suez Canal and forms of exports. The region as a whole has agreements worth more than US$31bn to produce 2.5 million tons of green hydrogen annually and 3 million tons of green fuels including green ammonia.

5. Hydrogen City

Texas’ Hydrogen City is an integrated green hydrogen production, storage and transport hub in what is traditionally an oil and gas state. ABB has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Green Hydrogen International (GHI) on a project to develop the major green hydrogen facility. As part of the project, a 120km pipeline will carry the hydrogen to Corpus Christi energy port, approximately 300km southwest of Houston. It will then be converted to ammonia and exported to Europe and Asia. Salt caverns under the site are taken advantage of as storage facilities capable of storing up to 24,000 tonnes of hydrogen.

4. Western Green Energy Hub

Covering 15,000km2 of gently undulating, sparsely vegetated land ripe with rich natural wind and solar resources, Western Green Energy Hub is being delivered by InterContinental Energy, CWP Global and Mirning Traditional Lands Aboriginal Corporation. It will produce 3.5 million tonnes of green hydrogen vectors each year. The planned output is mainly for the export market as the green fuels market is set to expand in the next decade and beyond. 

3. Unnamed Nouakchott project

Delivered by Infinity Power Holding — a joint venture between the UAE’s Masdar and Egypt’s Infinity — and Germany’s Conjuncta, the US$34bn green hydrogen project in Mauritania could produce 10GW of green hydrogen power. The project is set to be developed in four phases, with the first 400MW phase operational by 2028. The developers of the currently unnamed project in Nouakchott are hoping to export the hydrogen either as hydrogen or hydrogen derivatives such as ammonia or methanol. The first 400MW phase is due to begin operating by 2028, but timelines for scaling up have not been disclosed.

2. Fleur-de-lys Green Hydrogen Production Hub

Situated in Quebec, Canada, Green Hydrogen International’s Fleur-de-lys Green Hydrogen Production Hub is set to be powered by 500GW of offshore wind to create hydrogen for green ammonia. Although not much is known about the project, 40,000 acres of potential salt cavern storage have been secured.

1. Spirit of Scotia Green Hydrogen Production Hub

Also in Canada – this time, in Nova Scotia — Green Hydrogen International’s Spirit of Scotia Green Hydrogen Production Hub is estimated to produce 43 million tonnes of hydrogen annually thanks to 500GW of offshore wind. The project aims to position Nova Scotia as a global leader in green hydrogen production. Said to be the largest green energy project in Canadian history, it will deliver secure green hydrogen to European and North American markets thanks to 130,000 acres of storage grade salt rights secured across the Canadian province.

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10 Essential Tips for Beginners Starting WFPBNO Diet

The Whole Food Plant-Based No Oil (WFPBNO) diet is a type of diet that focuses on consuming whole, unprocessed plant foods while completely eliminating or greatly reducing oil and all animal products from the food. This lifestyle has gained popularity due to its numerous health benefits, including weight loss , improved heart health, reduced risk of chronic diseases, managing type 2 diabetes , and increased energy levels. 

What's more, individuals on a WFPBNO diet take more whole grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. As such, the WFPBNO diet provides useful and essential nutrients that are very good for optimal health. According to an EPIC-Oxford study involving ~37,875 individuals, vegans and vegetarians, including WFPBNO dieters, have lower BMIs on average compared to fish- and meat-eaters.

However, for beginners, transitioning to a WFPBNO diet can be challenging. You may face difficulties in finding suitable recipes, planning your meals , dealing with cravings, and ensuring balanced nutrition. But don't worry – help is here! In this article, we will discuss ten essential tips to help you successfully start and maintain a WFPBNO diet.

Educate Yourself

After you have decided to start a whole-food plant-based no-oil diet, it is important that you educate yourself properly. Understanding the principles and benefits of the WFPBNO diet is crucial. Read books, watch documentaries, and follow reputable websites and social media accounts dedicated to plant-based nutrition. PLANTSTRONG has lots of useful resources to help you get started. Remember, knowledge is power, and being well-informed will help you make better food choices.

Furthermore, transitioning to a WFPBNO diet doesn't have to happen overnight. Begin by gradually adding more whole plant foods to your meals. At the same time, you should slowly reduce processed foods, animal products, and oil. This approach allows your taste buds and digestive system to adapt. Thereby, making the change more sustainable. Try replacing one meal a day with a WFPBNO diet option, then progress to two meals, and finally, all your meals. This gradual shift makes the transition smoother and more sustainable.

Stock Your Pantry with WFPBNO Essentials

A well-stocked pantry is crucial for success on a WFPBNO diet. Fill your kitchen with whole grains (like brown rice, quinoa, and oats), legumes (beans, lentils, and chickpeas), nuts, seeds, and dried fruits. Keep a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables on hand. Having these essentials readily available makes it easier to prepare healthy meals and resist the temptation of processed foods. You may also get some new spices and herbs to add flavor to your dishes without relying on oil or salt.

Plan Your Meals

However, proper meal planning is important to follow a WFPBNO diet. Take some time each week to plan your meals and snacks. This helps ensure you have a variety of nutrients in your diet and prevents last-minute unhealthy food choices. Prepare larger batches of staples like grains and legumes to use throughout the week. You should also add a mix of raw and cooked foods for optimal nutrition and satisfaction.

Learn Oil-Free Cooking Techniques

Cooking without oil may seem very difficult at first. Thankfully, there are many effective alternatives. Try water sautéing or using vegetable broth. When baking, replace oil with mashed banana, applesauce, or plant-based yogurt. These techniques and alternatives will eliminate unnecessary fats and also allow the natural flavors of your ingredients to shine through.

Focus on Nutrients

While a WFPBNO diet is very nutritious, it's important (for all adults) to ensure you're getting all the necessary nutrients. Pay special attention to vitamin B12, vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, and iron . Consider taking a B12 supplement , as this nutrient is not naturally found in our food supply. Include foods rich in omega-3s like flaxseeds, chia seeds, and walnuts. Also, add iron-rich and calcium-rich plant foods like leafy greens, fortified plant milk, and tofu to your meals.

Stay Hydrated

Additionally, proper hydration is crucial in any diet. In fact, it's even more important when transitioning to a WFPBNO lifestyle. As you increase your fiber intake from whole plant foods, you'll need more water to help with digestion. Start your day with a large glass of water and aim for at least eight glasses of water daily. You can also take herbal teas and infused water to add variety to your fluid intake. 

Be Prepared for Social Situations

However, social gatherings and dining out can be challenging when following a WFPBNO diet. Hence, you may need to plan ahead by eating a small meal before attending events where food options might be limited. Also, you can check menus in advance when dining out. You can also ask the restaurant to make your dishes oil-free.

Experiment with New Recipes

Keeping your meals exciting and varied is key to sticking with a WFPBNO diet long-term. Explore new recipes and foods to discover delicious plant-based dishes. Try international cuisines like Indian, Mediterranean, or Mexican, which often feature plant-based meals. You can also invest in a good WFPBNO cookbook or follow plant-based food bloggers for inspiration. 

Listen to Your Body

As you transition to a WFPBNO diet, pay attention to how your body feels. You may experience some initial changes in digestion or energy levels as your body adjusts. This is normal and usually temporary. Notice how different foods affect your energy, mood, and overall well-being. If you have any concerns or persistent issues, consult with a healthcare professional or a registered dietitian who knows about plant-based nutrition.

BONUS: Find Support

Starting a new dietary journey can feel isolating at times. Hence, you should get support by joining online communities or local groups of people who follow a WFPBNO diet or lifestyle. Sharing your experiences, recipes, challenges, and tips with others can help motivate and support you. Thus, making your journey more enjoyable and easier.

Final Thoughts

Adopting a Whole Food Plant-Based No Oil diet is a journey that offers several health benefits and can be very rewarding. Although, the transition may present some challenges. Nonetheless, the insightful tips provided in this article can help make it smoother and more enjoyable. Remember to be patient with yourself, celebrate small victories, and focus on the positive changes you're making for your health. Above all, your decision to opt for a WFPBNO diet is an incredible and healthy one that your body and the planet will thank you for.

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• ACWA Power and SEWA sign deal for Sharjah’s first Independent Water Project

· The Hamriyah Independent Water Project will produce 2 72 ,000 m3/day of desalinated capacity by Q2 2027, reaching full capacity of 410,000 m3/day by Q2 2028

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates ; 4 September 2024 : Saudi-listed ACWA Power, the world’s largest private water desalination company, leader in energy transition and first mover into green hydrogen, today signed an agreement with Sharjah Electricity, Water and Gas Authority (SEWA) to develop Sharjah’s first Independent Water Project (IWP) that will help meet the increasing demand for potable water in the emirate.

The Hamriyah IWP will be developed using seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) technology. The plant will generate nearly 2 72 ,000 cubic metre per day (m3/day) of desalinated water by Q2 2027. Upon reaching full operations in Q2 2028, the plant’s capacity will reach 410,000 m3/day of desalinated water that will result in potable water sufficient for 1.4 million people.

His Excellency Abdullah Abdul Rahman Al Shamsi, Director General of Sharjah Electricity, Water and Gas Authority (SEWA) said: “The signing of the agreement to establish a water desalination plant in Al Hamriyah with one of the largest specialist companies in this field aligns with the plan to develop the water sector system in the Emirate of Sharjah. It is considered one of the largest investments in water at the emirate level, utilising the latest technologies. The new plant will operate using the reverse osmosis system for water desalination and includes the latest post-treatment, filtration, and disinfection technologies. The project will increase water production capacity, adding a storage capacity of 90 million gallons, in addition to consuming no more than 3.2 kilowatts per hour to produce one cubic metre of water.”

Remarking on the agreement, Marco Arcelli, Chief Executive Officer of ACWA Power, said: “We are delighted to collaborate with SEWA on this landmark project, bringing our total portfolio in the UAE to eight projects in both power and water. This project reinforces ACWA Power’s indisputable global leadership in water desalination, and we look forward to bringing our extensive experience in low-carbon intensive RO desalination to the emirate of Sharjah, providing an end-to-end solution to meet growing demand for clean and affordable water.”

SEWA operates under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, to implement a specific water strategy. This strategy aims to enhance water security, meet the needs of comprehensive development according to the highest quality standards, and ensure the sustainability of access to clean water for consumers across the emirate.

SEWA's water strategy includes governing its operations to ensure increased efficiency and enhanced capabilities through coverage, availability, storage, and water quality. This encompasses using the latest satellite survey technologies to detect water leaks in main and sub-lines, identifying the number of leaks monitored within subscriber sites, implementing new projects for transmission and distribution lines, and modernising water networks, pumping stations, and water tanks to improve the operational efficiency of the network and increase water storage capacity.

ACWA Power’s scope for the project includes the design, build, own, operations and maintenance of the plant. The site has existing shared intake and outfall facilities.

ACWA Power is the largest private operator of water desalination plants   in the world, with a robust portfolio of 20 water desalination projects that are operational, under construction or in advanced development. The company utilises pioneering technologies and integrates clean energy to fuel water desalination, which has been partially installed in several regional mega projects such as Taweelah RO, Rabigh 3, Jubail 3A IWP (Jazlah), Umm Al Quwain IWP, and Shuaibah 3 IWP.

ACWA Power has a portfolio of 8 million cubic metres of desalinated water per day.

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Raking of operational battery energy storage plants in Europe by capacity 2023

The leading operational battery energy storage facility in Europe as of October 2023 was operated by LG Energy Solution Wrocław, situated in Poland, with a storage capacity of about 86 gigawatt-hours. The smallest battery storage plant in operation was located in Czechia, and had a capacity of 0.2 gigawatt-hours.

Capacity of largest operational battery energy storage plants in Europe as of October 2023 (in gigawatt-hours)

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UK proposes £5.5bn subsidy for Sizewell C nuclear plant

The government’s proposed subsidy scheme will support its construction until the final investment decision.

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The UK Energy Security Department and Net Zero (DESNZ) has unveiled a new £5.5bn subsidy scheme to support the Sizewell C nuclear power plant (NPP) through to a final investment decision (FID).

The initiative is set to bolster the development of the proposed nuclear facility, ensuring its progression towards operational status.

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The announcement follows a review by the Competition and Markets Authority of the Devex scheme’s adherence to the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

The Devex scheme is a separate entity from the existing SZC Investment Funding Scheme (SC10655), which was established following the government’s initial investment in SZC in November 2022.

The funding, contingent on necessary approvals and including the forthcoming spending review, represents a significant commitment to the UK’s nuclear energy infrastructure.

The proposed Sizewell C plant, comprising two units with a combined capacity of 3.2GW, is expected to be a critical asset for the UK’s net zero and energy security strategy.

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Located adjacent to the current Sizewell B and the decommissioned Sizewell A plants in Suffolk, SZC’s design mirrors that of Hinkley Point C, the UK’s only other nuclear plant under construction, utilising EPR [extended producer responsibility] technology tailored for UK requirements.

The plant is anticipated to deliver low-carbon electricity at a low system cost, contributing significantly to the UK’s net zero goals.

In May 2024, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) granted Sizewell C a licence to install and operate a nuclear power plant.

The licence application, submitted in 2020, was delayed in 2022 due to complications with the shareholders’ agreement and land ownership. The ONR has now confirmed that these issues have been satisfactorily resolved.

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