Japanese electronics giant Sony has revealed technology that generates electricity from shredded paper.

At an environmental products fair in Tokyo, Sony invited children to put paper into a mixture of water and enzymes, shake it up and wait for a few minutes to see the liquid become a source of electricity, powering a small fan.

“This is the same mechanism with which termites eat wood to get energy,” Sony public relations manager Chisato Kitsukawa says.

It was part of Sony’s drive to develop a “bio battery” that turns glucose into power. According to Sony, bio batteries are environmentally friendly and have “great potential”.

As researchers scramble to find new, cost-effective sources of power, perhaps entrepreneurs can take inspiration from Sony’s innovations, looking at seemingly inanimate objects in a new light.