Odisha Twin Sisters Are Turning Crop Waste Into Sustainable EV Batteries

What looks like agricultural waste could become a valuable ingredient in the next generation of energy-storage technology. In Odisha, twin sisters Nishita and Nikita Baliarsingh are building Nexus Power, a startup working on rechargeable, bio-organic and biodegradable batteries using agricultural residue.

The idea connects two seemingly different problems: crop-residue waste and the environmental challenges associated with conventional battery materials. Instead of allowing agricultural leftovers to become waste, the technology explores how their biological components can be processed into materials for energy storage.

From a lockdown experiment to battery research

The story began with an experiment during the COVID-19 lockdown. The sisters became interested in whether biological materials could play a role in battery chemistry. Research into biochemistry and electrochemical materials led them to investigate proteins and other components found in crops.

According to IIT Madras’ Shaastra, their early experiments used protein-rich kidney beans and chickpeas along with sodium hydroxide as part of a homemade battery experiment. Although the first prototype was nowhere near commercial-ready, it demonstrated that the underlying scientific idea deserved further investigation.

That experiment eventually developed into Nexus Power, which was founded in Bhubaneswar and incorporated in 2020. The company’s research has focused on extracting useful materials from crop residue for rechargeable energy-storage cells.

The science behind turning crop waste into energy

A battery is essentially an electrochemical system that controls the movement of electrons and ions between different components. Conventional lithium-ion batteries rely on carefully engineered materials, including lithium-containing compounds.

Nexus Power is investigating a different approach: using biological materials obtained from agricultural leftovers.

The company says it uses a proprietary extraction and filtration process to obtain materials from crop residue and develop them into battery components. Its stated objective is to create rechargeable, bio-organic and biodegradable batteries while reducing dependence on lithium-based materials.

This is where the concept becomes scientifically interesting. Instead of treating agricultural residue purely as waste, researchers can look at it as a feedstock for advanced materials.

In other words, the question changes from “How do we dispose of this waste?” to “What useful molecules and materials are hidden inside it?”

Why crop residue could matter for battery technology

Agricultural residue is produced in enormous quantities. In several parts of India, crop leftovers are sometimes burned after harvesting, contributing to seasonal air-pollution problems.

If a portion of this residue can instead be collected and converted into useful industrial materials, the same resource could potentially participate in a circular economy.

Nexus Power’s model attempts to connect these two systems: agricultural waste becomes an input for energy-storage research, while farmers could potentially gain another use for material that might otherwise have little economic value. The company’s work has been highlighted by organisations including PMI and the United Nations-associated research on youth opportunities in the bioeconomy.

It is not simply about replacing lithium overnight

There is an important scientific distinction here.

A laboratory demonstration of a battery material does not automatically mean that the technology is ready to replace lithium-ion batteries across the entire EV industry.

Commercial batteries must satisfy demanding requirements involving energy density, power output, charging behaviour, cycle life, safety, temperature stability, manufacturing consistency, cost and long-term reliability.

Nexus Power says its technology is being developed with these challenges in mind, and its current work includes applications in electric mobility and stationary energy storage.

That makes the development more interesting than simply calling it a “battery made from farm waste.” The real scientific challenge is whether biological materials can be engineered, processed and manufactured consistently enough to compete with established battery chemistries.

A circular-economy approach to energy storage

The bigger idea behind the technology is circularity.

Traditional industrial systems often follow a linear pattern:

Extract → manufacture → use → discard

A circular battery system attempts to move toward:

Waste → material recovery → manufacturing → energy storage → recovery

If battery materials can be sourced from renewable biological feedstocks and some of the resulting materials can ultimately return safely to biological systems, the environmental equation could become very different.

Nexus Power describes its technology as biodegradable and says its materials can potentially be converted into manure after their lifecycle.

However, the environmental benefit of any battery technology ultimately depends on the entire lifecycle—from collecting agricultural residue and processing it to manufacturing, transportation, battery use and end-of-life treatment.

Why the Odisha sisters’ approach stands out

The most compelling part of the story is not simply that two entrepreneurs are developing an alternative battery.

It is the way they approached the problem.

They did not begin with an enormous industrial facility or an established battery manufacturing company. Their initial investigation emerged from curiosity, scientific literature and a small experimental setup.

That progression—from understanding biology to experimenting with materials, then investigating electrochemistry and eventually building a startup—shows how scientific innovation can emerge from an unexpected intersection of disciplines.

Nexus Power has since developed a broader technology platform around crop-residue-based battery materials and says it has filed numerous intellectual-property applications.

Could farm waste become the next energy resource?

It is too early to say that crop-waste batteries will replace lithium-ion technology. That would require extensive independent testing, large-scale manufacturing validation and commercial deployment.

But the scientific principle behind the research points toward an important future direction: energy storage does not necessarily have to depend on the same materials forever.

As global demand for batteries rises because of electric vehicles, renewable-energy storage and electronics, scientists are exploring new chemistries and new sources of raw materials.

The work of Nishita and Nikita Baliarsingh represents one such approach—using biotechnology, materials science and electrochemistry to ask whether something normally considered waste can become part of an advanced energy-storage system.

What begins as crop residue on a farm could, with enough scientific development, become material inside a battery.

And that is perhaps the most fascinating part of the idea: the future of clean energy may not always begin inside a mine or a laboratory. Sometimes, it can begin with something left behind in a field.