Is it possible to power a light bulb or charge a phone simply by touching it to a tree? No, that's not true: Electrical energy required to power a lightbulb or charge a phone cannot be generated from a living tree, since wood is "super static" and does not conduct electricity.
The claim appeared in a video on TikTok (archived here) on August 3, 2023, showing men demonstrating an illuminated lightbulb that appeared attached to a tree, with the caption (translated from Japanese to English by Lead Stories staff):
This is free energy. Energy can be generated from trees. You don't need to pay electric companies. What is Japan trying to hide?
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Oct 24 03:07:26 2023 UTC)
The video depicts unidentified men holding an illuminated lightbulb that is attached by what appears to be electrical wires to a tree. One man claims in English at about the 0:13 mark that the energy to power the bulb is produced by the tree and suggests the tree could power a cellphone charger.
The exact method used in the video to illuminate the lightbulb is unknown, but there is no scientific evidence to suggest that electricity can be generated by living trees, especially when the light bulb is directly attached to the tree's bark, as in the video. Because wood is "super static," does not contain free electrons and does not conduct electricity, it is impossible to generate an electric charge to light a bulb or charge a phone. The only known way wood can be used to generate energy is if it is chipped and burned as fuel in an electricity-generating power plant.
