Can an onion charge an iPod?

Thursday 27 November

Let’s be honest the iPod’s battery has always been a bit dodgy. So when I heard an internet rumour that you could charge it with nothing more than an onion, an electrolyte sports drink and a USB cable, I was open to giving it a try.

Unearthing distant memories from when I was a kid, about my lemon-powered clock, the premise sounded almost plausible. The idea is that the onion absorbs the electrolyte sports drink and then has a chemical reaction that subsequently charges your iPod.

So are sales of onions and sports drinks about to go through the roof? Are our electricity bills on the verge of plummetting? Or can E.ON and the rest of the power companies rest easy? Let’s find out…