New Source of Energy: Harnessing Human Body Biopower

Availability of cheap and abundant energy with minimum environmental and ecological hazards associated with its production and use, in recognition of the fact that it plays a crucial role in realizing the improvement in the quality of life for the people living in developing countries. Unfortunately, since the first oil crisis of early seventies, the crunch of increasing fuel prices have been a cause of particular concern in most of the developing countries. More recently, the adverse environmental/ecological implications of excessive production and use of fossil fuels have also been globally acknowledged and have been the subject of considerable debate and anxiety. New and renewable sources of energy may offer an excellent alternative (to the fossil fuels) in this context, if properly harnessed. Although today batteries are considered to be the first choice in supplying power to electronic medical implants, there are numerous efforts to develop alternative power-supply systems that are capable of operating independently over prolonged periods of time, without the need of external recharging or refueling. Dr. Nathan Long and his team of researchers at Bio-Nano Power, a Central Michigan University Research Corp. (CMU-RC) tenant in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan have achieved an extraordinary breakthrough in harnessing power from renewable resources found right in the human body. On September 2, 2009, Dr. Long filed a comprehensive patent, "Bio-Nano Power Cells and Their Uses," which ties together more than two years of intense biotechnology and nanotechnology research to develop power cells that generate efficient, high density power and emit lower CO2 pollutants. This opens doors to a smaller, stronger and sustainable power source that has applications in nearly every conceivable area, from miniature medical applications like internal glucose monitors to small and large energy-consuming machines like personal computers or even automobiles. All this is achieved with a system that produces 90 percent less greenhouse gases and is four times more efficient than standard approaches of burning fuels to generate power.

According to Dr. Long, the body is full of bio-fuels that can be converted to electrical energy to run devices inside the body, or to be recreated outside for virtually any power-related need. The patented process developed and tested by him combines the strength of advanced biotechnology with honed nanotechnology techniques in a new and different way. To conceive of it, think of a game of tug of war where you have the strongest member close to the rope and each member puts in his best effort for the game at his position, applying force along with others. If you have the right members, in the right order, all doing their best, you'll have desired results. Long's patented process creates that "team" of enzyme catalyst polymers that efficiently produces power when activated by common bio-fuels. (14/09/2009)

Source: http://www.cmurc.com/