Play golf and charge your iphone- A golf, cricket, tennis or baseball player uses a lot of his or her energy in swinging the club, bat, racket or base, back and forth. This kinetic energy generated by the player can be stored for later use. The stored energy can charge the cell phone, laptops and other gadgets through a device. This gadget is envisioned and designed by a scientist Mac Funamizu. It could take time for an idea like this to reach India.
Cycling- The Crown Plaza Hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark, came forward with an exciting and innovative way to generate power. The system includes the guests staying at the hotel and cycles. They offer a free meal to any guest who produces electricity for the hotel on an exercise bike attached to a generator. Guests will have to produce at least 10 watt hours of electricity which is around 15 minutes of cycling to get a meal vouchers worth Rs. 1,972! The energy produced can generate electricity to run a laptop for approximately 30 minutes. The idea is easy to implement and can be implemented by anyone on an individual’s level in their own hotel or even home.
Dancing- Till date we had been of the view that clubs are the maximum consumers of electricity as the music and the lighting systems consume a lot of power on daily basis. Now the clubs are an excellent place to generate power too. The idea was implemented by a club, Bar Surya, in London, that re-outfitted its floor with springs. The springs when compressed by dancers, produce electrical current. This current is stored in batteries and consumed to run the devices in the club. This new idea can power up to 60% of the club’s energy needs.
Snakes- Anaconda, with a rubber tube body, 200 yards in length or longer, is filled with nothing but water. The snake is capable of generating 1MW (Megawatt) of power per year. The set up contains harnessed snakes, allowed to swim. The waves in the sea stimulate a ‘bulge wave’ which passes down the tube and gathers enough energy to drive a turbine in its tail. The electricity generated by the turbine can be captured and carried to shore by cables. Groups of 50 anacondas could each generate enough electricity to power 50,000 homes. The project is being developed in America currently. Strange?
Heated up Roads- Concrete roads absorb a lot of heat. A company from Holland, came up with a brilliant idea of using this heat to generate power. The heat can be extracted and used. Here they use the heat to warm the water running in pipes under the roads. This warm water can then be used to generate electricity as well as can be supplied to houses and buildings. This system provides hot water to the buildings while keeping the roads ice free in winters. Gas bills can also be reduced considerably.