Technology allows human movement to generate clean electricity for powering portable gadgets!

It is pretty much common knowledge that exercising will burn your excess calories. But now scientists have contrived a fascinating way in which your body's normal exercising capability (like walking) can generate electricity. Engineering researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has come up with this innovative consideration and actually improved upon it as a form of available technology. With this practical mechanism by our side, portable gadgets starting from mobile phones, tablets to laptops can seriously be powered by the 'human' energy.

Energy Harvester

According to University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Krupenkin, human beings can be regarded as "very powerful energy-producing machines". This statement is strengthened by the fact that - by running an average person could generate up to a kilowatt of energy. So, from the scientific perspective, this substantial availability of human energy source was never a problem. The predicament lied with the fact that there was no credible technology that could utilize this vast mechanical source, and convert it into usable electrical energy.

That is up till now, as the researchers from the university have managed to successfully contrive an innovative energy-harvesting technology known as 'reverse electrowetting'. The method uses a micro-fluidic mechanism, which comprises of a myriad of micro liquid droplets. These droplets react with a nano-based substrate, and that results in the harvesting of clean energy.

The intriguing mechanism can be incorporated in specially made footwear. When walking, the kinetic energy is generally dissipated in form of heat. But in this case, the kinetic energy can be converted to around 20 watts of electrical energy. Moreover, the technology can itself overcome the limitation presented by batteries as a source of finite quantity of energy. Fundamentally, the more you walk, correspondingly the system will provide greater degree of sustenance (for portable electronic gadgets).

Coming to the ingenious system itself, the harvested power can be transmitted to the mobile devices in basically two ways. Firstly, the one can physically connect his device with the footwear via a wire. This obviously results in direct charging of the device. Secondly, and more efficiently, one can also incorporate a Wi-Fi hot spot that bridges the charging facility of a portable device with a wireless network. According to the scientists, this method can increase the battery efficiency of any device by a whopping ten times.

As for consumers, there isn't any current proposal from major electronic companies to implement this convenient mechanism, by replacing conventional batteries. But on the brighter side, the developers are looking forth to indigenously commercialize their novel invention, by starting their own company - InStep NanoPower.

So, at the end of the day, there is no denying the fervently conscientious yet practical essence of the whole conception. Furthermore, one can always lose those extra pounds of flab, all in the pursuit of producing clean and green electricity.