Before we get lots of comments on powering things with food:
It is not powered by the potato!!!
It is powered by the metal leads stuck into the potato!
The metal oxidizes (burns) and releases energy. It would work just as well with salt water. The potato is simply an ion bridge (i.e. it connects the two metals together via a conductive path, and encourages/enables them to oxidize).
If you had a time machine to 11 years ago you could tell him to just soak a napkin in salt water and put the leads in that and avoid rotten potatoes.
It is not powered by the potato!!!
It is powered by the metal leads stuck into the potato!
The metal oxidizes (burns) and releases energy. It would work just as well with salt water. The potato is simply an ion bridge (i.e. it connects the two metals together via a conductive path, and encourages/enables them to oxidize).
If you had a time machine to 11 years ago you could tell him to just soak a napkin in salt water and put the leads in that and avoid rotten potatoes.