Instead of just burning calories, why not use all that energy from exercising to power your MP3 player? The Dancepants Kinetic Music Player, a shortlisted entry in Designboom’s Green Life competition, lets you do just that by converting kinetic energy from running, hopping, jumping, etc. into electricity to power an iPod or other music player. According to the Dancepants designers, the product is a “100 percent interactive way to feel the value of energy on your own.”
Any one point on a busy street can receive up to 50,000 steps a day, so imagine if you could take all that foot traffic and turn it into something useful – like energy! A new product designed by Laurence Kemball-Cook, the director of Pavegen Systems Ltd., can do just that. With a minuscule flex of 5mm, the energy generating pavement is able to absorb the kinetic energy produced by every footstep, creating 2.1 watts of electricity per hour.
Synch your workout with a little river detox, then rehydrate with a cup of the fresh water you just filtered. This people-powered water purification island, designed by Jakub Szczesny as part of the Synchronicity architecture and art festival in Warsaw, Poland, hooks up basic exercise machines to kinetically pump polluted water through four filters into overhead tanks that spill into a large drinking fountain at the end of the cycle. This floating platform on the Vistula River aims to empower citizens toward environmental clean-up, and apparently would work on any body of water with enough local bodies willing to pedal for their potables.
The serene back-and-forth movement of a rocking chair is nothing if not relaxing. It can also be useful and productive, according to Rochus Jacob. The designer’s Murakami Chair, a winner in designboom’s Green Life competition, uses the kinetic energy produced by rocking to power an attached OLED lamp.
Fast food lovers may finally feel a little less guilty about getting greasy burgers. One New Jersey Burger King recently equipped its drive-thru with a speed bump that harvests electricity from cars that pass by. The speed bump is part of a pilot project from New Energy Technologies, and if all goes well, drivers could see energy-harvesting speed bumps at drive-thrus, toll plazas and even shopping centers.
Next time you feel like generating a little energy, just roll into your local Sainsbury’s! The third largest British supermarket chain has just unveiled a new energy system that generates power from the vehicles entering the parking lot of its new store in Gloucester. Think that’s neat? It’s just the tip of the iceberg lettuce for this new lean, green market.
Every year millions of tourists and locals descend upon Tibet’s temples and spin the prayer wheels contained inside. If the mechanical energy generated by the movement of these spinning wheels could be harnessed, we could potentially reduce the size of our current carbon footprint and supplement an inadequate and unreliable electrical grid for numerous individuals. The Prayer Wheel Energy Generator, designed by Taikkun Yang Li does just this by transforming all of those good vibes into electricity that could be used to provide reliable energy for daily needs such as evening lighting.
Here’s a brilliant invention that makes us wonder why all city sidewalks aren’t covered in piezoelectric tiles. POWERleap is a floor tiling system that converts wasted energy from human foot traffic into electricity. The magic behind that awesomeness is piezoelectric technology and advanced circuitry design, which converts pitter-patter into power. First showcased in 2007 …
We’ve seen piezoelectric systems that harvest energy from roads, subways, and even umbrellas — now researchers have announced that they are on the brink of unlocking an energy grid composed of capillaries, arteries, and veins. Heralded by advancements in piezoelectric nanowires, the development may one day harness the flow of blood to power ipods, cellphones and other portable electronics. How’s that for an alternative take on plasma power?
Hot air balloons have long fueled the imagination and now Brisbane-based Solartran has conceived of a way to harness the serene floating forms to generate significant amounts of renewable energy as well. Developed by Ian Edmonds, the “balloon engine” uses solar energy to drive a giant hot air balloon as a “piston”, producing as much as 50Kw – enough energy to power 10 homes!
Imagine never having to plug your cellphone into the wall again! Now you can just plug it into your bike with Oscar L’Hermitte’s “Watts Maker” cell phone charger. The system consists of a small kinetic generator that provides power to your mobile phone while you take an evening ride around the neighborhood or pedal to work. This model takes about 90 minutes to go from dead to fully charged, and it produces energy as long as the wheels keep turning.
Engineers at Innowattech in Israel recently created a new type of road that generates electricity as vehicles pass over it! The supercharged surface is embedded with piezoelectric crystals, which transform kinetic energy from passing vehicles into an electrical current. With widespread adoption, the technology could feed energy back into the nation’s burgeoning electric vehicle grid, transforming congested roadways into a clean green source of energy.
Umbrellas that light up with integrated LEDs are nothing new: from Instructable’s DIY illuminated umbrella to patio umbrellas available at Lowes, LED Umbrellas have been around the block. But here’s a brilliant idea we’ve never seen before: an illuminated umbrella that is powered by rain! Designer Sang-Kyun Park has taken the illuminated umbrella idea to the next level with Lightdrops, an umbrella made from polyvinylidene fluoride [PDVF], a conductive membrane that powers LEDs with energy from falling rain.
When the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) decided to invest in alternative energy sources, it only had to look to its users for the perfect source of energy. Recently the company decided to update their Tokyo Station with a revolutionary new piezoelectric energy generating floor. The system will harvest the kinetic energy generated by crowds to power ticket gates and display systems!
Harvesting the kinetic energy generated by crowds of people is one of our favorite approaches to renewable energy. Recently Netherlands-based Natuurcafé La Port installed an energy generator in a rotating door, so every time someone walks in for a cup of coffee, they give just a little bit of their energy back to the coffee shop. We keep saying that solving the problem of global warming will require that we open up new doors in the field of renewable energy, but we must admit that we never expected to mean it literally!
There’s nothing that we love more than a well-designed bike, so we get excited when designers take a long hard look at one and give us a vision of things to come. David Gonçalves’ Grasshopper is a folding electric bicycle that not only serves as a means of transportation, but can also become a stationary exercise bike and can even generate and store kinetic energy.
The e-charkha is an ingenious update to India’s ubiquitous charkha [spinning wheel] that transforms the simple machine into a potentially significant source of energy for millions of struggling families in India. Designed by RS Hiremath, the e-charkha “not only produces yarn but also generates electricity using a maintenance free lead acid battery fixed at the bottom, which functions as an inverter.”
Gunwook Nam’s Human Pump is a clever solution to the world’s water crisis that captures kinetic energy generated from human foot traffic and uses it to power a system of pumps that bring fresh drinking water to the surface in a playful, dramatic and life-saving waterfall. One of three winners in the Re:construct competition sponsored by San Fransisco’s Urban Re:Vision, the project is a brilliant example of socially responsible design targeted towards communities without easy access to water.
For those times when you are hanging out in your underground lair with no sunlight to speak of, this little device could power your iPhone should the battery die. The iYo Induction Power Charger, designed by Swedish industrial designer Peter Huvander, is a yo-yo that utilizes magnetic induction to generate and store energy as it spins. Give it a few whirls, and then simply plug in your iphone for a charge!
The world’s very first Sustainable Dance Club recently let partygoers loose on its energy-generating dance floor to the sound of Iggy Pop & The Stooges! Originally rumored to be opened by Amy Winehouse, club Watt, features a LED-laden dance floor that is lit up solely by the kinetic energy generated by dancers. The new nightclub will also feature a variety of efficiency standards established by the Sustainable Dance Club group that allow it to save 30% on energy consumption, 50% on water use, cut CO2 emissions by 30%, and reduce waste by 50%.
In the age of digital photography, photographers on the go know that keeping charged is an essential consideration. Whereas most cameras use batteries for power, Sony recently revealed a unique looking device that is powered by kinetic energy! The latest in the company’s Odo line of green gadgets, the Twirl n’ Take camera is charged by giving its circular head a spin.
Earlier this year we highlighted Idaho startup M2E Power’s push to develop motion-powered electronics for the military. Now M2E is emphasizing the commercial applications for their technology, with a specific goal: revolutionizing cell phone batteries. M2E will announce the development of an external charger later this month that will generate between 300 and 700 percent more energy than current kinetic energy technologies, and may eventually replace cell phone batteries altogether.
Have you ever pedaled on a stationary bike at the gym and thought to yourself: ‘What if this energy I am exerting could be used for something better than just making me sweat?” Well now a new proposal from architect Mitchell Joachim promises to take all that energy expended at the gym to the next level, by capturing all that exertion and using it to transport people around the rivers of New York City. The River Gym concept is a human-powered floating gym that will provide the user with the one experience that no other gym can provide: floating your workout around Manhattan. Designed by architect Mitchell Joachim and personal trainer Douglas Joachim, this project could bring inspiration to both the morning commute and workout.
Behold the mowercycle! Is this an awesome DIY design or what? This ingenious bicycle-lawnmower fashioned by an unknown suburban lawn owner out of an old bicycle and a broken lawnmower, is a testament to the creativity of the human spirit. Spotted in dot dream’s flickr stream, we have no idea who the original photographer was, nor do we know anything about the owner/designer of the MOWERCYCLE. All we know is that it is awesome and should be an inspiration to sustainable design fans and DIY tinkerers everywhere.
Sustainability got sexier last week as Coldcut and Jade Jagger hosted the opening of Surya in King’s Cross. The Club4Climate project is London’s first taste of eco-friendly clubbing, making clubbers happy in the knowledge that their organic beverage-induced booty shaking can generate 60% of the energy needed to run the club. The venue’s most exciting innovation is the piezoelectric dancefloor, which uses quartz crystals and ceramics to turn clubbers’ movement into electricity!
You may have heard the rumors, but it is now official, Ferrari is developing a hybrid sports car. Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the company president, said, “We are currently working on the development of a Ferrari that will use alternative energy sources and which will be based on what we are doing at the moment in Formula One.” As per the 2009 Formula One regulations for vehicles, all race cars will utilize a kinetic energy recovery system, or KERS, which is essentially the hybrid system. The Italian sports car manufacturer expects to have the new vehicle on the market by 2015.
With a design which would easily fit in a 1970’s Stanley Kubrick film, Postfossil’s award winning First Light reading lamp is certainly cinematic. Powered entirely by a cog and wheel mechanism, the light remains lit once ‘wound’ by pulling the weighted cord. While the illumination relies on a relatively continuous input from the user, Postfossil’s Anna Blattert and Daniel Gafner have found a way to remind us of our energy consumption though the tried and tested method of action and reward.
Imagine being able to collect the energy of every person walking up and down the stairs from the Spinnaker Tower viewing platform in Portsmouth, UK. That is the proposal being put forward by David Webb, from the British consultancy of Scott Wilson. His hope is to install miniature “heel-strike” generators underneath the stairs that would capture the power generated by a person as they walk down the tower. His ultimate goal is to install them in every rail station, shopping center and even in your shoes!
It’s something that could happen to us all – accruing so many USB-bound gadgets that there’s no way to keep them all charged. They clutter the desk and drawers, constantly vying for attention from the laptop, which is plugged into an outlet, which supplies a current, which despite PG&E’s best intentions has a long way to go before it’s clean and green. This trusty hand-cranked superbattery stands in where the grid falls short, instantly providing any USB gizmo with a renewable energy source – one embedded deep within your biceps.
Biomimicry – or designs based on natural systems – is one of the most intriguing methods for designers and engineers to create innovative and efficient solutions to problems. Inspired by forms and functions found in nature, this approach to sustainable design allows for environmentally friendly solutions for energy, waste reduction and a bevy of other design challenges. Using biomimicry as the guiding design principle, the Australian firm BioPower Systems has developed Biowave: an ocean power system that harnesses energy by mimicking the motion of underwater plants in the ocean currents to generate electricity.
Ever wished you could charge your cell phones and laptop on the go – in your car, on a train, or just walking around? There are many new gadgets for mobile renewable energy: from solar gadget chargers, to kinetic energy chargers, to mini portable wind turbines. Check out this video to learn a bit more about some of the companies behind the most future-forward new mobile renewable energy devices.
Mary Lou Jepsen’s keynote presentation of One Laptop Per Child at our Greener Gadgets conference was without a doubt one of the highlights of the event.
“By trying to do the right thing and by designing for the poorest people in the world, we’ve made the greenest laptop in the world. And that’s not just the color!”
The OLPC laptop, known as XO or the $100 laptop, is a feat of energy efficient engineering, consuming just 2W of energy – whick makes it able to be powered through solar cells or hand cranks. In the video above, Mary Lou illustrates how the XO laptop is a new model for energy-efficient electronics, and inspiration to look at new ways of powering our devices.
In the future, when you need to charge your cell phone, all you’ll need to do is to go for a walk. Researchers at Simon Fraser University Locomotion Laboratory in Burnaby, Canada, have created an accessory that attaches to your knee to generate power with every step that you take.
The designers at New York City based Fluxxlab studio have come up with an ingenious sustainable energy harvesting idea that makes you wonder why no one else has thought of it before. Their Revolution Door manages to capture otherwise wasted human energy from the revolving doors we all see at various large buildings. If you think about it, this concept is quite similar to a turbine spinning somewhere deep inside a hydroelectric dam or within wind turbine to generate renewable electricity.
A human-powered energy-generating gym like Hong Kong’s is now taking shape in Seattle, turning human sweat into usable electric energy. By connecting spinning bikes to wind-generator motors, clients at Adam Boesel’s green microgym can generate enough electricity to power the gym’s music system or run their own personal DVD player.
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