Sony introduced the paper and sugar battery

   The system generates electricity through a chemical reaction of cellulose with enzymes.
TOKYO - Japanese electronics giant Sony on Thursday unveiled a technology that generates electricity from paper strips.
As an ecological products fair opened in Tokyo, Sony invited the children to put the paper in a mixture of water and enzymes, stir and wait a few minutes to see the liquid become a source of electrical energy, powering a small fan.
              
"This is the same mechanism by which termites eat wood for energy," said Chisato Kitsukawa, public relations manager for Sony.
While academic research has taken place previously in this type of power generation, proof of concept demonstrations are rare, he said.
The performance was part of Sony's campaign to develop a sugar-based "biological battery" that turns glucose into energy.
Shredded paper or pieces of corrugated cardboard used in the fair to provide cellulose, a long chain of glucose sugar in the walls of green plants.
The enzymes used to break the chain and the resulting sugar is then processed by another group of enzymes in a process that provides hydrogen ions and electrons.
The electrons travel through an external circuit to generate electricity, while the hydrogen ions combine with oxygen from the air to form water.
"Biological batteries are environmentally friendly and have great potential," it does not use harmful metals or chemicals, Kitsukawa said.
But the technology is far from commercial viability, due to its low potencia.Actualmente output is sufficient to run digital music players, but not powerful enough to replace the batteries in common use, he said.
Sony first unveiled the sugar test battery technology in 2007 and has since reduced the size of the battery on a small sheet.
Another battery of sugar was on display at the fair integrated into a Christmas card that played music when drops of juice were added to it.