Dr. Esteban Garcia-Tamayo (second from right) and colleagues at the Universidad Pontifica Boliviarana are transforming fique, the plant pictured behind them, into energy

Exploring Sustainable Energy Storage in Colombia

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Colombia’s most famous export, coffee, is stored and shipped in sturdy woven bags made from a local plant called fique, also known as sisal. The fibers of the fique plant are notoriously strong, but creating textiles wastes nearly 95% of the plant itself. As a nanoscientist specializing in energy delivery, Esteban Garcia-Tamayo, PhD, believes that the byproducts of this process may be essential for the future of sustainable energy storage.