Battery made of sprouts powers Christmas tree

A team of scientists has created the world's first battery made entirely of Brussels sprouts which is being used to light an 8 foot Christmas tree on London's Southbank.

The "Sprout Battery" was unveiled this morning with the help of Year 7 pupils from City of London Academy in Islington. The device was created through The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair.

The battery was created using five power cells, each holding 200 sprouts, producing 63 volts from the 1,000 Brussels sprouts.

Copper and Zinc electrodes are placed in each Brussels sprout to create a chemical reaction between the electrodes, generating a current which can be stored and used to power the LEDs on the tree.

The power is stored in a capacitor and released through 100 high efficiency LED lights. The Big Bang scientists are able to monitor the voltage on a separate display, which shows how much energy is being produced by the sprouts.