EARTH DAY for GLOBALWARMING

BEIJING, - Researchers have found a way to get the electricity generated by trees, so the media reports this weekend.

Children around the world who has conducted experiments lemon or potato battery mengetahu that electric current can be generated by creating a reaction between the food and two different metals.

However, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found another way to reap electricity from the tree. They use the same metal for both electrodes that are specifically arranged so as not to confuse the effect with the impact of potato.

Although the tree proved to be a source of electricity is an important step, one question remains: Can the small voltage produced by a single tree is used for something useful?

After spending the summer to examine the trees, the researchers found that the broad-leaf tree produces a fixed voltage to several hundred milivolt. By adding a device called a voltage converter drivers, the research team with difficulty managed to obtain a usable voltage of 1.1 volts, enough to run a low-powered sensor.

A team member acknowledged that "the power of trees" sepraktis not solar energy, but he believes the system can be considered as a cheaper option to produce electric power for the sensor tree that helps detect environmental conditions or forest fires.

By using the electronic output to maintain the tree's health is another possibility. The study was planned published in the journal "Transactions on Nanotechnology, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Enggineers"