Stealing electrons from single celled algae to generate electric power

Chlamydomonas, a single celled algae

New Scientist has a report on its webpage about scientists who inserted tiny gold electrodes into single celled algae called Chlamydomonas, to syphon off some high energy electrons created during photosynthesis. The electrons were then used to generate electricity.

The process was less efficient at generation of electricity that a solar cell, and would be hard to do on a large scale, but the researchers involved believe they can make the process more efficient in the future.

You can read the whole article here