In a study, a team of UK researchers have found a way to utilise a substantially different energy source to power a computer: algae.

According to an article on BBC News, the team from the University of Cambridge have managed to harvest the energy required through photosynthesis. Energy was harvested through a blue-green algae called synechocystis via the sun, which in turn produced an electric current.

Furthermore, the length of time that the computer was able to run on this source was something that surprised the team. In the end, the algae would go on to generate power continuously for a whole year.

“We were impressed by how consistently the system worked over a long period of time – we thought it might stop after a few weeks but it just kept going,” said Dr Paolo Bombelli of the University of Cambridge’s Department of Biochemistry.

The algae is contained within a device that is comparable in size to an AA battery. The electrical current produced works with an aluminium electrode that then allows the microprocessor to run, which in the case of the team’s experiments was an Arm Cortex +10. 

In the future, the researchers believe that this device “has potential as a reliable and renewable way to power small devices”.