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Asked by Nya to Keegan on 25 Apr 2016.
Question: How did you know that there was electricity in the soil?
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Keegan Cooke answered on 25 Apr 2016:
This all started when I was a scientist researching bio-energy technologies. Our team started experimenting with this technology called “microbial fuel cells”, which use bacteria to convert chemical energy into electrical energy. We were using this technology at the bottom of the ocean, using ocean sediment as a renewable energy source for powering sensors. We found out that the bacteria that made this system work (like Geobacter) can also be found in soil. Thus we started using soil as a power source and MudWatt was born!
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Clay commented on :
Soil scientists knew that electrons were being transferred in anaerobic (very little oxygen available) conditions in soils that were wet for long periods of time because they observed changes in the form of the minerals and compounds that were present. When an element or compound is receives and electron, the compound is reduced, and its properties change.
Nitrate and nitrite are solids, but when reduced form the gases nitric oxide or nitrous appearance – distinct spots of various shades of yellow, red, orange, gray, black, blue, and green.
Similar to nitrogen, oxidized compounds of sulfur (sulfates) are solids, but some reduced oxide. These gases escape into the atmosphere.
Oxidized forms of iron and manganese change colors and become more soluble when they are reduced (receive and additional electron). The result is a soil horizon with a mottled forms are gases. Reduced sulfur compounds are responsible for the smell of rotten eggs and swamp gases, and are the reason flatulence and excrement (farts and poop) stink!
The next step was for scientists like Keegan to find a way to capture these wandering electrons.