Spinach power is not just for Popeye, it could work for computers too. US researchers have made electrical cells that are powered by plant proteins.
The biologically based solar cells, which convert light into electrical energy, should be efficient and cheap to manufacture, says co-creator Marc Baldo of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They could even be used to coat and power laptops, providing a portable source of green energy.
Baldo’s team isolated a variety of photosynthetic proteins from spinach and sandwiched them between two layers of conducting material. When light was shone on to the tiny cell, an electrical current was generated. [Ball]
Ball, Philip. “Could laptops run on spinach?: Solar cells turn over a new leaf.” Nature. 28 June 2004. <www.nature.com/nsu/040621/040621-9.html> (30 June 2004).