Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Piezo strikes again!

Piezo-electric materials generate energy from mechanical stress. We’ve seen a club in Amsterdam that powers itself from the guest on it dance floor & heard promises of cell phone
keystrokes generating electrical energy, measured in micro-watts.

Now we are seeing modular implementable configurations that are making more real the dream of capturing some of the worlds lost energy. Well one should never say lost when talking about energy, because energy is never lost.

Imagine all the scuffling of feet around your house. Think about sporting events and staircases and roads! Human activity exerts forces upon the objects and infrastructures that we have surrounded ourselves with. Reclaiming a slice of that energy moving about in our bustling cities would be a fantastic achievement!

@stevenasher