The same piezoelectric effect that ignites your gas grill with the push of a button could one day power sensors in your body via the respiration in your nose.
Writing in the September issue of the journal Energy and Environmental Science, Materials Science and Engineering Professor Xudong Wang, postdoctoral Researcher Chengliang Sun and graduate student Jian Shi report creating a plastic microbelt that vibrates when passed by low-speed airflow such as human respiration.
Eco Factor: World’s first kinetic energy harnessing door.
Recently we read about the efforts put in at a Japanese railway station to harness the energy generated when someone walks over piezoelectric devices installed at the railway station’s ticket counters. It seems railways stations will be the first to go completely green with piezoelectric floors and kinetic energy harnessing doors.
Developed by Boon Edam, the rotating door generates energy every time someone walks through it. It was a part of the refurbishment of the Driebergen-Zeist railway station. The door is expected to generate about 4600kwh of energy annually, which might just be enough to run some coffee machines at the railway station.
The Dark Side:
4600kwh is nowhere near to the amount of renewable energy we might need to end global warming. However, the efforts and the technology are highly commendable. Maybe the choice for the location of the door should have been a superstore, instead of a railway station, especially during the holiday season.
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