Jens Laurids Sørensen Receives Prestigious Award for his Work on Developing an Environmentally Friendly Fungal Battery

: 04.12.2023

As part of the green transition, solar cells and wind turbines are very important players. As a society, we must move away from fossil fuels like oil and coal and move towards clean energy sources like solar and wind. But what about surplus power – is it possible to store it?

Jens Laurids Sørensen Receives Prestigious Award for his Work on Developing an Environmentally Friendly Fungal Battery

: 04.12.2023

By Dorte Larsen, Communication Specialist, AAU Communication and Public Affairs. Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication and Public Affairs

Solar parks and wind farms have long been looking for a solution that makes it possible to save surplus power from sunny and windy days for days of cloudy and windless weather. Jens Laurids Sørensen, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Bioscience in Esbjerg is working on a solution. He and several research colleagues are busy developing a fungal battery that can store the energy produced and make it available when needed. The battery also boasts a wide range of environmental benefits compared to traditional batteries.

Jens Laurids Sørensen receives 'The Future is Fungi Award 2023'

Jens Laurids Sørensen, Associate Professor, has received a prestigious award for his work on developing the fungal battery: He recently received an award called 'The Future is Fungi Award 2023'. The award is intended to honour groundbreaking research and new innovations in the field of fungi and to provide the environmental solutions the world needs.

The award is a major recognition of Jens' work on the development of the fungal battery. Jens Laurids Sørensen talks about the significance of the award:

As a researcher, it’s huge to receive this award that rewards me for my research performance. This is huge because the award makes for some clout, which I hope can help open doors to collaborators and research grants in the future. I was chosen for the award among 250 researchers, which is a great honour for me personally and a great recognition of my research.

Jens Laurids Sørensen

Success in translating research knowledge into products

Jens is receiving the award not only for his groundbreaking research but also for his success in translating his research knowledge into products that are useful to the world. The award was presented at a large online event that gathered 250 researchers from 70 countries. This is the first time the award has been given, and in addition to the honour, Jens Laurids Sørensen receives 10,000 euros and a mentoring programme.

The sustainable mould-based battery

The fungal battery has several sustainable properties:

The batteries are made of organic substances extracted from fungi. Quinones from fungi can be used as electrolytes in the battery; they are environmentally friendly to produce; and when the battery reaches the end of its life, all its substances are 100% biodegradable.
The advantage of the substances from fungi is that they are produced in a climate-friendly way and are 100 percent degradable compared to batteries made of toxic and climate-damaging metals, such as vanadium and lithium.
The battery is ingenious in that it can store surplus power from renewable energy sources, such as wind turbines and solar cells, that need to be able to save the energy from sunny and windy days for cloudy and windless days.

From research to finished product

Jens Laurids Sørensen heads a group of researchers at the Department of Chemistry and Bioscience in Aalborg and Esbjerg. The project also includes a group of researchers at AAU Energy and collaborates with researchers at the Technical University of Denmark. Research on the development of the fungal battery has been ongoing for several years, and it is based on various foundation grants which the Novo Nordisk Foundation has been particularly generous. Most recently, the foundation contributed DKK 4 million to the ongoing project that runs until spring 2025.

The group of researchers at the Department of Chemistry and Bioscience includes Kåre Lehmann Nielsen, Professor, and Teis Esben Søndergaard, Associate Professor. They work together in the research area of "Plant and Fungal Biotechnology".

Jens and the research group have now developed a prototype of the fungal battery that works in the laboratory but it is not finished as the technology still needs to be developed and adjusted. Jens talks about the continuing work:

Within five years, we expect to have a battery ready that can be set up on a test site in the real world for a wind turbine. We’re betting that within ten years we will have a complete solution that can go into production. We’d like to start a company where we provide the substances needed for the fungal battery while others will provide the hardware. But we still have a ways to go.

Jens Laurids Sørensen

Kontakt