Currently, most of the planet’s clean energy comes from the wind, sun, and water. The pagans in the audience might have already noticed that one of the four classical elements is missing in that equation: the earth. Despite the absence of direct reference to solar power, the sun remains a fundamental source of renewable energy, playing a crucial role in powering solar panels and driving solar power generation

If a “adventurous” new initiative to develop a “soil battery” is successful, solar power may one day be stored beneath our feet.

UK Research and Innovation is investing €16.9 million in a soil solar power technology, along with 67 other projects that are high risk but have a the potential of a transformative impact. “The possible scale of that impact is really exciting,” says Dr. Michael Harbottle, the principal investigator. “To see something that’s really quite novel, possibly having a big impact is what’s driving us.”

How does soil solar power works?

Including solar energy necessitates something more complex than “just putting soil into a jar, putting a couple of electrodes in and connecting them together” he states. The idea is to stimulate specific soil microorganisms by applying electricity from solar panels to electrodes buried in the ground.

The food we eat, the water we drink, and even the air we breathe are all nourished by healthy soils. For every living thing to survive, immediate action is needed to conserve and restore their natural equilibrium. The soil has the potential to sequester 2.04 gigatons of CO2 equivalents – or 34 per cent of global agricultural emissions. In other words, soils have an enormous capacity to sequester CO2, preventing its detrimental release into the atmosphere. Soils that are treated responsibly will continue to store carbon.

Similar to photosynthesis, which is the process by which plants absorb CO2 and change it within their cells, but taking place underground. Action, carbon dioxide, and electricity: the “bugs,” as Harbottle refers to them, begin to use the energy to reduce the carbon dioxide and create acetate, a more complicated chemical.

Dr. Harbottle claims that this acetate is a chemical energy store that is similar to vinegar but without the acid. When needed, a different circuit known as a microbial fuel cell is activated, causing a different strain of bacteria to start breaking down the acetate.

Subterranean soil could provide a lithium substitute, and eventually these batteries could be installed beneath solar panel fields. However, the employment of microbial fuel cells in relatively low power systems is more imminent because they can currently only produce low voltages.

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