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When most people think of potatoes, they think of three main dishes: French fries, potato gratin with cheese, and mashed potatoes with gravy. But would you ever consider potatoes as a source of energy for your household? A group of researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have been interested in the "electric potato" for some time, hoping to find a way to provide energy to people in remote areas who don't have access to traditional energy sources.
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Journalist Haim Rabinowitch claims that a single potato can power an entire room full of LED lights for forty days. One way to use a potato as a battery is to connect it to cheap metal plates, wires, and LED lights. The BBC explains that to make a battery out of organic materials, you only need two metals: zinc for the negative electrode (the anode) and copper for the positive electrode (the cathode). Energy is generated by the movement of electrons from one substance to the other when the acid in the potato reacts with the zinc and copper.
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