This picture taken on May 9, 2026 shows Japanese product designer and engineer Satoshi Nakagawa posing at the "Ku-An" test lab in Hitachi-ota, Ibaraki Prefecture. Glinting in the night halfway up a hill in Japan, the greenhouse-like "Ku-An" test lab is lit up by electricity harnessed from 1,500 wooden boxes of soil and compost. Designer Satoshi Nakagawa has long battled sceptics, but believes that the technology powering the 800 LEDs has a role to play in solving humanity's energy conundrum. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP via Getty Images) / To go with AFP story Japan-climate-electricity-technology, FEATURE by Hiroshi Hiyama

This picture taken on May 9, 2026 shows battery cells inside the "Ku-An" test lab in Hitachi-ota, Ibaraki Prefecture. Glinting in the night halfway up a hill in Japan, the greenhouse-like "Ku-An" test lab is lit up by electricity harnessed from 1,500 wooden boxes of soil and compost. Designer Satoshi Nakagawa has long battled sceptics, but believes that the technology powering the 800 LEDs has a role to play in solving humanity's energy conundrum. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP via Getty Images) / To go with AFP story Japan-climate-electricity-technology, FEATURE by Hiroshi Hiyama

This picture taken on May 9, 2026 shows Japanese product designer and engineer Satoshi Nakagawa taking part in an interview with AFP outside the "Ku-An" test lab in Hitachi-ota, Ibaraki Prefecture. Glinting in the night halfway up a hill in Japan, the greenhouse-like "Ku-An" test lab is lit up by electricity harnessed from 1,500 wooden boxes of soil and compost. Designer Satoshi Nakagawa has long battled sceptics, but believes that the technology powering the 800 LEDs has a role to play in solving humanity's energy conundrum. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP via Getty Images) / To go with AFP story Japan-climate-electricity-technology, FEATURE by Hiroshi Hiyama

This picture taken on May 9, 2026 shows the "Ku-An" test lab in Hitachi-ota, Ibaraki Prefecture. Glinting in the night halfway up a hill in Japan, the greenhouse-like "Ku-An" test lab is lit up by electricity harnessed from 1,500 wooden boxes of soil and compost. Designer Satoshi Nakagawa has long battled sceptics, but believes that the technology powering the 800 LEDs has a role to play in solving humanity's energy conundrum. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP via Getty Images) / To go with AFP story Japan-climate-electricity-technology, FEATURE by Hiroshi Hiyama

This photo taken on May 26, 2026 shows Japanese product designer Japanese product designer and engineer Satoshi Nakagawa conducting an experiment to harvest electricity from a block of concrete at his laboratory in Tokyo. Glinting in the night halfway up a hill in Japan, the greenhouse-like "Ku-An" test lab is lit up by electricity harnessed from 1,500 wooden boxes of soil and compost. Designer Satoshi Nakagawa has long battled sceptics, but believes that the technology powering the 800 LEDs has a role to play in solving humanity's energy conundrum. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP via Getty Images) / To go with AFP story Japan-climate-electricity-technology, FEATURE by Hiroshi Hiyama

This picture taken on May 9, 2026 shows battery cells inside the "Ku-An" test lab in Hitachi-ota, Ibaraki Prefecture. Glinting in the night halfway up a hill in Japan, the greenhouse-like "Ku-An" test lab is lit up by electricity harnessed from 1,500 wooden boxes of soil and compost. Designer Satoshi Nakagawa has long battled sceptics, but believes that the technology powering the 800 LEDs has a role to play in solving humanity's energy conundrum. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP via Getty Images) / To go with AFP story Japan-climate-electricity-technology, FEATURE by Hiroshi Hiyama

This picture taken on May 9, 2026 shows battery cells inside the "Ku-An" test lab in Hitachi-ota, Ibaraki Prefecture. Glinting in the night halfway up a hill in Japan, the greenhouse-like "Ku-An" test lab is lit up by electricity harnessed from 1,500 wooden boxes of soil and compost. Designer Satoshi Nakagawa has long battled sceptics, but believes that the technology powering the 800 LEDs has a role to play in solving humanity's energy conundrum. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP via Getty Images) / To go with AFP story Japan-climate-electricity-technology, FEATURE by Hiroshi Hiyama

This photo taken on May 26, 2026 shows ultra-small-scale power harvesting that generates electricity using organic materials such as soil and bamboo, produced by Japanese product designer Japanese product designer and engineer Satoshi Nakagawa at his laboratory in Tokyo. Glinting in the night halfway up a hill in Japan, the greenhouse-like "Ku-An" test lab is lit up by electricity harnessed from 1,500 wooden boxes of soil and compost. Designer Satoshi Nakagawa has long battled sceptics, but believes that the technology powering the 800 LEDs has a role to play in solving humanity's energy conundrum. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP via Getty Images) / To go with AFP story Japan-climate-electricity-technology, FEATURE by Hiroshi Hiyama