Power In Space: Time For A Biological Solution

Conceptual drawing of a Mars base based on bio-power. A greenhouse, microbial fuel cells, and algal growing compartments are all visible. Image by Chris Lund. Credit: IntAct Labs

by David Tenenbaum

Cambridge MA (SPX) May 15, 2007

Traditional systems for making electricity in space depend on the hardest of hardware: photovoltaics (solar panels), hydrogen fuel cells, radioisotope thermal generators. But at a meeting of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) last fall, Matthew Silver, a space systems engineer who heads IntAct Labs in Cambridge, Mass., presented radical ideas for using biology in a new generation of power supplies. These proposed devices would generate electrons using microbes that live in mud, or proteins native to the human ear or in photosynthetic bacteria.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Power_In_Space_Time_For_A_Biological_Solution_999.html