This Lamp Powered By a Houseplant Is Plant Lady Dreams Come True
You might have to brush up on your elementary school science before this begins to make sense to you (or maybe that’s just us), because there’s a lamp that gets its power from a house plant. If you’re rusty when it comes to recalling the basics of photosynthesis, don’t worry: This off the grid lamp created by Ermi van Oers is here to remind you just how potent the process actually is.
While the green plant is busy soaking up sunlight to churn out carbohydrates and carbon dioxide, it can apparently produce enough energy to power a lamp—which is appropriately named The Living Light. Van Oers presented the lamp during Dutch Design Week, and its light production process is quite fascinating.
As organic compounds are released into the soil from photosynthesis, bacteria generates electrons and protons. These particles are tapped as an energy source to power the light. The healthier the plant is, the more photosynthesis takes place – and the more energy the system generates.
Instead of plugging the lamp into an electrical socket, users need only water the plant once a week. Depending on the plant’s condition, it can yield a half-hour of light-producing energy from a single day. Although its energetic output isn’t substantial enough to produce large amount of light, the technology used to create the Living Light could lead to a plant takeover in the future, where greenery replaces electrical grids as the power source for entire cities, Van Oers tells Dezeen.
“I hope we come to a point where every plant pot is provided with this technology, and we don’t know any better than that plants are part of our energy system,” she said. Sounds like serious Plant Lady goals to us.
If the Living Light sounds like perfect for your reading desk or your nightlight needs, we suggest you expand your knowledge on how to keep houseplants healthy before these plant-powered lamps become available to the masses.