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Fish scales could be a future renewable energy source according to researchers at Jadvapur University in India, who have discovered a way to generate energy from them.
According to Eurekalert, “The collagens within the processed fish scales serve as an active piezoelectric element” – meaning they can harvest energy around them from body movements, machine and sound vibrations, or a heartbeat for example, and wind.
Makeshift cell
As Gizmodo reports, the research team first collected fish scales from a local fish market in Kolkata, before processing them to make them flexible. Two electrodes were then attached to each scale and each scale was laminated. Energy could then be harvested from these makeshift cells. Read more about their method here.
Food Waste
Possible future uses of this technology could be self-powered electrical devices such as pacemakers and it could also be a great way to tackle food waste, one of a number of ingenious solutions we’ve encountered recently. One of our favourites is the Too Good to Go App, which allows users to buy unused restaurant food for next to nothing.
Who knows, perhaps one day you’ll be able to charge your phone using whatever’s left over from the fish course.
How to identify and buy fresh fish
