Who hasn’t been shopping on an empty stomach? Yet days later tomatoes sit rotting on our tables.
Instead of throwing fruit and veg away, an engineering student in Manila has found a way to make use of out-of-date greens.
Extracting luminescent elements from the food he suspends them in a resin compound, packed into a frame of solar cells.
The material can collect light and convert it into electricity. The really clever thing about it, however, is the fact that unlike normal glass the material does not require direct sunlight.
It uses ultraviolet waves and can thus generate energy even when it is overcast. Meaning that food harvests ruined by inclement weather can still be converted into energy.
Talk about the Midas touch.
