So how do termites figure in making your phone calls green? Well one of the most recent and radical ideas that is being looked at, is just how these tiny insects create their power needs.

It looks as if the Japanese electronics giant Sony has taken a lesson from nature in just how termites and white ants digest wood and create energy. This principle is at the heart of Sony’s idea of developing a ‘bio-battery’ made from just shredded paper!

Sony their experiments have taken a piece of paper and placed it into a liquid of water along with an enzyme called Cellulose to help break down the paper into glucose sugar. Typically, you then take the sugar, process it with other enzymes which then transform the sugar into hydrogen ions and electrons and, hey presto a chemical reaction and electrical energy is produced.

How do we know it works? Well, the idea was shown recently at the Eco-Products Exhibition held in Tokyo, where the Sony team generated enough power to make a small fan work. In this early stage form, the termite idea designs are not the most powerful of batteries in the world at present, but the wonder of it is that it could take us on the journey of solving the riddle of finding the most eco-friendly and least climate changing way to powering your mobile phone.

Nice one Sony…