You & people around you can generate Power!

Who said electricity can only be generated by water or steam turbines? Even shirts or carpets (by just walking on them) or jogging can generate Power!

First on the list:
Thousands of people come and go to your nearby supermarket, railway station or any such crowded place. But, have you ever thought that could well be used to generate lots of emission-free electric energy?

It is like "Pedestrians generating power without their knowledge!" Designed by British engineers, on the floor carpets generates electrical impulses from the pressure sensors. Underfloor generators, powered by “heel strike” designed by British engineers! This technology uses the footsteps' pressure of flooding pedestrians to power thousands of lightbulbs at markets and such shopping centres. The pressure of the feet on the floor compresses the pads underneath which drives the fluid through mini-turbines that generates electricity which is then stored in a battery!

Engineers at Victoria Underground station in Central London have estimated that around 34,000 pedestrians passing through every hour could help light 6,500 lightbulbs! Not only floors, the technology could also be modified to be installed beneath railway lines and on road bridges to generate energy from passing trains and vehicles...

The second on the list:

Here's a new way of showing your style statement and at the same time charging your cell phone! Just wear the "Power Shirt." Nanotechnology has inspired many and theses researchers are developing a "Power Shirt" able to generate electricity from the physical motion of just walking or running wearing that shirt! In the process the physical motion could be harnessed and converted to electrical energy!

What you do not know is that pairs of textile fibers covered with zinc oxide nanowires can generate electrical current using something called the "Piezoelectric Effect." Current flow from many such fiber pairs woven into, preferably a shirt or jacket could allow the wearer's body motion to generate electric energy. The fibers could also be woven into curtains, tents or other structures to capture energy from wind motion, sound vibration or other mechanical energy, which inturn generates energy!

Mr. Zhong Lin Wang, the Regents professor at Georgia Institute of Technology, who is researching on the field said that the fiber-based nanogenerator would be a simple and economical way to harvest energy from very normal physical movement of any human being! And that if we can combine many of these fibers in double or triple layers in clothing, we could provide a flexible, foldable and wearable power source that, for example, would allow people to generate their own electrical current while they do their work, like walking!

To see a video and more detailed pictures of Regents professor Zhong Lin Wang explaining how a Microfiber Nanogenerator works, visit the Georgia Institute of Technology Research center!

The technology can be modified for a range of domestic uses like powering iPods by plugging them into batteries placed in the owners’ heels! Soon, we will generating power for our cell phones and MP3 players instead of depending on other devices...