Matthew Halpenny’s work on open-source microbial fuel cells – a type of energy harvesting device for soil, mud, and plants – adopts a research-creation approach to address the inaccessibility of new energy technologies. This research-creation documents its process; that is, the development of new manufacturing methods. These open-source microbial fuel cells (MFC) are a way to rework scientific-industrial knowledge, which is locked in vaults, and whose manufacturing processes are intentionally left incomplete to favor copyright over accessibility and reproducibility. The open-source ethic allows anyone to download, use, and modify the existing code. Thus, only two elements are needed to produce MFCs: a code capable of printing the cells and a diagram for harvesting energy from these cells. Halpenny’s work documents the entire process leading to the creation of an MFC, as they learn how MFCs function.
Open-source MFC diagram of 3D printable parts, electrodes, and washer.
Microbial fuel cells offer a compelling energy solution by enabling us to extract energy from natural ecosystems with minimal disturbance. In many ways, they serve as a counterbalance to the extractive energy paradigm that destroys our ecosystems through mineral extraction, oil drilling, and carbon emissions. Like many alternative energy technologies, they have their limitations. Energy collection by microbes is a much slower process than what we expect with our modern energy consumption habits. Halpenny’s research does not aim to create an equally “efficient” energy source but to envision new symbiotic energy systems in which we must work with the temporality of our environment rather than against it.
Energy harvesting is a general term that can apply to solar, wind, or thermal energy (among other methods). Microbial energy harvesting uses the residual ions that exist in the soil to create an electrical circuit. The ions come from microbial metabolic processes, or rather from the decomposition of matter in the soil.
A foam-based MFC, which was part of Halpenny’s research-creation, was showcased at the Centre Pompidou alongside Fossilation.
Ions are produced on a timescale that escapes the temporality of human activity. Microbes do not conform to human needs; instead, we must work with them on their own terms. Halpenny’s research adapts scientific knowledge on very low-power energy management circuits to slowly convert energy in the range of 20 millivolts – 200 millivolts to the standard 3300 millivolts that most of our portable electronic devices use. Throughout his research, he discovered that almost no scientific articles provided the schematics necessary for this operation – it was a solitary endeavor, every man for himself. The few researchers who did share their designs did so so long ago that the electronics they used are now obsolete.
Energy management circuit based on Halpenny’s workshop.
Following the open-source software ethics of maker communities like Adafruit and Arduino, Halpenny focuses his research on reproducibility without requiring engineering expertise. Maker communities share designs and, more importantly, the processes to make something work. This means that the challenging task of understanding the code, circuit design, or manufacturing methods is eliminated, allowing almost anyone to create the object in question.
Open-source MFCs come with a three-part step-by-step guide for cell fabrication. The parts are divided into cell fabrication, electrode fabrication, and circuit design. Each of these steps attempts to detail several ways to create MFCs, some of which offer DIY manufacturing methods that do not require technical equipment, which may make them less efficient than their counterparts. This reality is addressed by Halpenny’s work: the manufacturing process does not need to be centered on efficiency, but rather viewed from a systematic perspective. Here are some questions we should ask ourselves: Does this process create pollution? Does it contribute to a more circular economy? What is the intrinsic energy of the materials used? Who has access to the equipment and materials needed for manufacturing? Efficiency does not necessarily mean producing the most energy possible, but rather reducing our environmental impact as much as we can and making it as accessible as possible.
3D-printed MFC parts
MFC parts during 3D printing
Although the open-source MFC project started as an art piece, it quickly became more complex when Halpenny tried to make sense of all the articles on MFCs they were reading. While Halpenny continues to produce art with their MFCs, they do not want future artists, makers, or researchers to encounter the same obstacles. Their work on open-source MFCs was presented at Ars Electronica as part of the Hexagram Network Garden, where the manufacturing process and design files were published and are now publicly accessible hereici. Anyone with access to a 3D printer can print them directly from the download, and anyone wishing to use recycled materials instead of a 3D printer can follow the PDF.
Presented as part of the Hexagram Network Garden at the Ars Electronica 2021 festival.
Halpenny’s research continues through the experimentation with new electronic components, new materials, and new manufacturing techniques. During this research, their work has manifested in pieces such as “Slow Serif”, a mixed installation of electronic art and biological art that slowly compiles a story on the paradigm of extractive energy using MFCs to update and refresh an electronic ink display when their energy is sufficiently high.
Installation Slow Serif
The MFC as installed inSlow Serif
Through Slow Serif, Halpenny aims to provoke a discussion on slowness, energy consumption, and extraction. The choice of an electronic ink screen allows us not only to pause and slowly absorb the news, but also serves as a resting point for the MFCs. Thus, the work is intended to be non-extractive, allowing the MFCs to slowly produce the energy we can harvest without harming them. For the news to be written, we must take care of the MFCs and let them grow. We cannot force them to produce more energy, because if we are not careful and patient with them, they can die. The Open-Source MFCs come with a case that helps nourish the mosses and prevent them from drying out, but within the framework of the work, they need to be watered periodically and allowed to breathe. This slowness opposes the paradigm of extractivism which demands immediate and powerful energy at a high cost to the environment. It is we, as a society, who must learn to slow down and rewrite our habits.
BIOGRAPHY
Matthew Halpenny is an interdisciplinary media artist from Montreal who works at the intersection of biology, society, and technology. His work seeks to disrupt conventional boundaries around life, evolution, the body, consciousness, and human expression. These ideas have been explored through the use of the human body as a performance instrument, artificial organisms, techno-biological sculpture, and distributed cognition performances. His work is inspired by systems theory, embodied cognition, sensory theory, emergent behavior, multi-species being, and media ecologies. He was previously a member of the Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture, and Technology, where he worked within the Speculative Life and Critical Materiality research groups. He is now a student member of Hexagram at the University of Montreal.
Photo Credits: All images are by Matthew Halpenny.
You can also follow his creative journey on his website.
