Our gadget-centric culture has one big weak link, which is power storage. If you’re not near an outlet (and have time on your hands), or have a backup battery with you, when your device’s battery is dead, you’re out of luck. Wouldn’t it be great if you could harvest and use the energy from your movements to power your gadgets? You could go for your morning run or workout, and then transfer that kinetic energy to your smartphone, providing a full day’s charge with the power of your own body’s movement. In the near future, that could be a viable… read more

Playgrounds with merry-go-rounds that can convert the energy of playing children into electricity to light up their lives are making a difference in Ghana, thanks to the efforts of a nonprofit called Empowered Playgrounds. In places with poor access to power, such as rural Ghana, schoolchildren have plenty of energy to play, but little to none for lighting their after school studying and other home activities. But a former VP of Engineering at ExxonMobil Research, Ben Markham, is helping to make their home lives and their education quite a bit brighter, in the form of merry-go-rounds that can generate electricity… read more

When you get stuck with a dead battery in your smartphone or other mobile device during the day, having an emergency power source or backup battery means that you won’t have to do without. And this kinetic charger not only provides a backup source of power, but it can also charge itself up, again and again. The Voltmaker is an ingenious little device, weighing just over half a pound and incorporating a 2000 mAh Lithium battery and a kinetic charging charging system, for easy access to power on-the-go. The internal battery can be charged up via the wall outlet or… read more

Kinetic energy may be difficult to harvest on a large scale basis, and can be unreliable. However, in places where there is a constant barrage of motion it can be useful. Take for example, swings or rocking chairs. The way that rockers are designed are ideal for harnessing energy produced from motion and utilizing it. A clever idea for creating power from movement surfaced in a swing design a few years back. Ryan Klinger designed a glider style seat called Empower that captures energy from the rocking motion. Coming out a 2nd place winner among designs at the Greener Gadgets… read more

A new type of kinetic flywheel technology from Volvo Car Group could be a cheap and efficient method for boosting fuel economy by as much as 25%. The new flywheel system, Flywheel KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System), fits onto the rear axle of a gas-powered car, and when the vehicle brakes, the device converts that brake energy to the spinning flywheel, which spins as fast as 60,000 RPM. Once braking begins, the standard combustion engine powering the front wheels of the car is switched off, and when the vehicle begins to move again after a stop, the rear wheels get… read more

Whether you are lucky enough to book a global adventure or content to hike through a local terrain, responsible traveling is a model to take along. You might not think about your need to explore having much of an environmental effect, but when thinking in terms of the numbers of transnational travelers each year, it helps to watch your own steps. According to the World Tourism Organization, international travel was up 5% in 2012, which was around a 22 million person increase since the previous year. That’s a lot of worldwide trekking. And while there is no way to put… read more

Producing energy from both conventional and renewable energy sources is relatively straightforward. Storing it and delivering it affordably and evenly across the demand spectrum is another thing entirely, so effective energy storage solutions are one of the keys to wider adoption of clean energy sources. Matching peak demand times with optimal production levels isn’t a simple task, especially for wind and solar power plants, but a new type of flywheel may hold the answer for high performance energy storage, and do it at a lower cost than current technologies can. The team at Velkess believes they have the answer to… read more

With sustained growth in the population of urban regions, demand for power has increased drastically. Higher costs and less availability of fossil fuels means the need for innovation in harnessing alternative energy sources is urgently needed. One British company is working hard to make use of the urban “crowds” to generate power. A floor tile has been developed by Pavegen Systems Ltd that harvests energy from footsteps. The idea has enormous application when we consider the number of people who walk through a given area such as shopping malls, subways, and pedestrian paths everyday. The tile itself is green in colour, and is… read more

Popular sustainable energy choices like solar and wind are thankfully becoming more prevalent. However, there are some other really interesting innovations in energy research and application. Typically present things capable of producing power, like motion, are being successfully looked into for energy sources. Items that are in movement possess kinetic energy, which can then be turned into even more energy. The motions created from things like vibrations are being considered for netting and producing energy because of their usually constant availability. The pulsating caused from repeated movements can be manufactured into small bursts of power. Since there are numerous things… read more