CONSILIENCE ARE YOU READY FOR GREEN ROOFS THAT PRODUCE ELECTRICITY? WRITTEN BY KARA ORR The goal of alternative energy technology researchers is to create a new source of electricity generation technology that is renewable, sustainable, and accessible, and green roofs may just hold the key! So when Marjolein Helder, the Dutch CEO of Plant-e completed her 2012 thesis entitled Design criteria for the Plant-Microbial Fuel Cell Electricity generation with living plants - from lab to application she was seeking to realize the potential of plant based electricity generation. LIVING ARCHITECTURE MONITOR / FALL 2016 / 30 M arjolein explains, "to meet future electricity demand, alternative electricity generating technologies are needed. A new alternative electricity generation technology is the Plant Microbial Fuel Cell (P-MFC)". The Plant Microbial Fuel Cell is described in Helder's thesis as a "system that produces bio-electricity from plant derived organic matter without harvesting the plant". The P-MFC technology uses rhizodeposits released from plant roots, which are then converted into electrons, protons and CO2 by electrochemically active micro-organisms that are present around the roots. These electrons are harvested using anodes and cathodes separated by a membrane to produce electricity. The P-MFC technology is renewable because the energy it outputs in its lifetime offsets the energy required to produce it. This method of generating electricity is sustainable because it can continue to output energy so long as water remains in a liquid form. Because of READ THIS ISSUE ONLINE AT LIVINGARCHITECTUREMONITOR.COMhttp://www.LIVINGARCHITECTUREMONITOR.COM