A Xenia-based company found a way to kill weeds with light. Here's why that matters

Global Neighbor, a company based in Xenia, has created the perfect recipe for light that no one else has. It's a recipe that could make it easier to maintain solar fields and cut the use of herbicides.

They call it directed energy.

The idea for it was developed by Patrick Jackson – product manager for Global Neighbor – when he was in high school.

“We were told ‘you really can't plant a weed up against clear plastic and keep it in daylight, because roots aren't supposed to see light. That's why they're in the ground,’” Patrick Jackson explained. “So in other words, in order to kill a plant, if I make the root see light, then I could kill it.”

Directed energy works by emulating sunlight. Once the directed energy light is aimed towards the root of a plant, the wavelengths are able to penetrate the soil. Then the plant will die within 10 to 14 days.

Discover More in Full Article