An Eel-Powered Holiday

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

13 Dec 2007 06:39 PM

Worried about rising energy costs and a big electric bill after the holidays? Lighting a tree may not put a huge dent in your wallet but you can do it for free if you have the right equipment -- an electric eel.

Japanese inventor Kazuhiko Minawa spent a month working on a system that would collect energy from an electric eel. The Aqua Toto Gifu aquarium in Kakamigahara provided the eel and the tree; the eel provides the energy. Thanks to Minawa, it's an eel powered Christmas for the aquarium. The aquarium is calling it the "e-tree" -- E for "eco" (as in environmentally friendly) and E for electric eel. (You could also call it eel-lectricity if you wanted to.)

Aluminum panels and copper wire inside the tank work to capture the eel's electricity. Cables run from the tank to the tree to keep the lights growing. Every time the eel touches the wire, the resulting jolt of electricity brings the tree to life. Minawa said that the power generated from all the electric eels around the world would light an amazingly large tree. Could eel power be the wave of the future?

The tree is attracting tourists from all over Japan, and will stay lit through December twenty-fifth. One visitor commented on the set-up's nature friendliness. Maybe someday we will all gather around the aquarium every Christmas to watch the eel light the tree.

Electric eels normally use their electricity to stun prey. The eels have pretty bad eyesight, and the zap gives them a fair chance to catch food. In Japan, eel is more often seen on the menu than under the Christmas tree. But the electric eel display at the Aqua Toto Gifu aquarium is expected to bring in many more visitors before Christmas day.

I'd like to see the eel-powered tree become an attraction at aquariums all over the world during the holidays!

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Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover...

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