Soil-Powered Fuel Cell Makes List of Best Sustainability Designs

A newly designed soil-powered fuel cell that could provide a sustainable alternative to batteries was recognized as an honorable mention in the annual Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards.

Terracell is roughly the size of a paperback book and uses microbes found in soil to generate energy for low-power applications. 

Previous designs for soil microbial fuel cells required water submergence or saturated soil. Terracell can function in soil with a volumetric water content of 42%

Terracell placed in Fast Company’s list of the best sustainability-focused designs of 2024.

Researchers at Northwestern University lead the multi-institution research team that designed Terracell.

Josiah Hester, an associate professor in Georgia Tech's School of Interactive Computing who previously worked at Northwestern, directs the Ka Moamoa Lab, where the project was conceived. 

The team includes researchers from Northwestern, Georgia Tech, Stanford, the University of California-San Diego, and the University of California-Santa Cruz.

Their research was published in January in the Proceedings of the Association for Computing Machinery on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable, and Ubiquitous Technologies. The researchers will also present this work at the ACM international joint conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp), Oct. 5-9.

According to the Fast Company website, the Innovation by Design Awards recognize “designers and businesses solving the most crucial problems of today and anticipating the pressing issues of tomorrow.” Winners are published in Fast Company Magazine and are honored at the Fast Company Innovation Festival in the fall.

“Terracell could reduce e-waste and extend the useful lifetime of electronics deployed for agriculture, environmental monitoring, and smart cities,” Hester said. “We were honored to be recognized for the design innovation award. It is a testament to the promise of sustainable computing and our hope for a more sustainable world.”

For more information about Terracell, see the story featured on Northwestern Now, or visit the project’s website.