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.”

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Post tags: dancepants, ipod, kinetic energy, mp3, power

Instead of acting as one of the most bland parts of city landscapes, what if manholes served a purpose? That’s what designers Cheolyeon Jo and Youngsun Lee propose with their “Eco Sign“, an electronic manhole cover that gives directions to the closest train or bus stop.

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Post tags: bus, Electricity, green design, hydroelectric, kinetic energy, manhole, rainwater, renewable energy, sustainable design, train

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.

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Post tags: crowdsourced energy, energy generating pavement, green design, kinetic energy, pavegen, renewable energy, sustainable design, Urban design

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.

+ Centrala design collective

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Post tags: centrala design collective, green design, kinetic energy, pedal powered water purification, sustainable design, synchronicity festival, water purification

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.

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Post tags: Design Competition, eco-friendly furniture, green furniture, green lifestyle, Green Lighting, home design, kinetic energy, OLED, rochus jacob, rocking chair

Designer Chiyu Chen has conceived of an ingenious transit system that encourages the use of sustainable transportation by crediting people for renting and riding bicycles. His Hybrid2 system consists of a fleet of rentable bicycles that are capable of generating and storing kinetic energy, which is then used to power the city’s hybrid electric buses. Simply rent a bike, charge it up with kinetic energy from pedal power, and then return it to a kiosk – the station feeds energy into the city’s smart grid, and you receive a credit towards your next bus pass!

Read the rest of Hybrid Squared: Ingenious Energy-Generating Bike Rental System

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Post tags: bike, chiyu chen, Green Transportation, hybrake, hybrid bus, kinetic energy

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.

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Post tags: alternative power, gfry studio, green design, kinetic energy, prayer wheel, renewable, school of art institute of chicago, sustainable design, taikkun yang li

Charting the future of cell phone technology, Kyocera recently unveiled a kinetic energy-powered phone that is capable of folding up like a wallet. Designed by industrial designer Susan McKinney, the EOS phone consists of a soft, semi-rigid polymer skin surrounding a flexible low-energy OLED display. Shape memory allows the phone’s keys to pop up when in use and blend in with the surface during downtime.

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Post tags: energy efficient design, green design, Greener Gadgets, kinetic energy, kyocera flexible cell phone, oled screen, self charging cell phone, sustainable design

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 as part of Metropolis magazine’s Next Generation design competition, we see HUGE potential from this invention. Individual footsteps might not produce a significant amount of power, but if you consider the total kinetic energy from stampedes of shoppers on 5th avenue, (or commuters in a train station, or revelers in a nightclub), it all adds up fast and could be a viable energy source to power specific applications like lights.

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Post tags: eco tiles, energy generating tiles, energy tiles, foot power, green playground, kinetic energy, people powered energy, piezoelectric, piezoelectricity, power leap, power tile, powerleap

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.

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Post tags: clean technology, energy generating roads, green design, israel technion institute, kinetic energy, renewable energy, sustainable design

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.

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Post tags: clean technology, green design, green gadget, kinetic energy, light generating umbrella, lightdrops umbrella, renewable energy, sustainable design

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!

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Post tags: Boon Edam, electricity generating revolving door, energy generation by walking, kinetic energy, kinetic motion, Nature Cafe La Porte, Netherlands ingenuity, netherlands revolving door, RAU

Perfect for emergency preparedness and cute to boot, this adorable penguin eco flashlight would make an excellent addition to any home. The bright light eschews a landfill-bound battery for a pump powered kinetic charger that provides an hour of light for each minute spent pumping. Capable of functioning as either a nightlight or a flashlight, it’s also a great way to teach growing tots about renewable energy. Head on over to Inhabitots for full scoop!

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Post tags: eco gadget, eco penguin light, eco-friendly flashlight, eco-friendly lamp, eco-friendly night light, ecotronic, green gadget, green nightlight, greener gadget, hand-squeeze flashlight, handpump flashlight, kinetic energy, penguin flashlight, penguin nightlight, penguin torch, people powered 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.”

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Post tags: alternative energy, e-charkha, energy generating spinning wheel, green design, kinetic energy, led light, renewable energy, rs hiremath, socially responsible design

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.


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Post tags: battery-free camera, kinetic energy, kinetic powered camera, Odo, Sony Odo, twirl n’ Take camera