{"id":49424,"date":"2025-07-13T18:13:31","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T22:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine\/?p=49424"},"modified":"2025-11-13T12:29:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T17:29:12","slug":"plankton-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine\/impact\/plankton-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Plankton Power"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thirty feet below the ocean\u2019s surface, a revolution is underway. Ocean sensors\u2014vital for measuring water conditions and tracking changes in the marine environment\u2014are stuck in a high-cost, high-risk cycle of battery replacement. But what if these devices could power themselves using the ocean\u2019s own resources? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what Ruggero Rossi<\/a>, assistant professor of environmental health and engineering, is working on: generating electricity from the seawater\u2019s microscopic biomass by turning dissolved organic matter, plankton, and algae into energy that could power the sensors while reducing their cost and reliance on traditional energy sources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a complicated project. Nothing similar has been attempted before,\u201d says Rossi, who previously scaled up a device to convert organic waste into electricity, but in accessible wastewater treatment plants, not under 30 feet of seawater. <\/p>\n\n\n\n