Mechanical energy capture
Why depend on plugs and transmitted electricity when you can charge up your mobile phone or mp3 player yourself, just by moving? Or how about a dance floor that lights up when you dance on it?
Both Rotterdam and London can boast about their own “sustainable dance clubs”, in which the guests literally light up the floor. The floor functions as a big generator, and transforms the vibrations from the dancers into electricity that lights up the floor.
The body generates a great deal of power in the course of a day, and new solutions are constantly being developed to transmit this energy to electronic gadgets. Mobile phone chargers are especially widespread. Some models are fastened to the body so that the energy generated by your body while walking, running or dancing is transmitted to a charger. Another kind of charger receives power from the wheels in a specially-designed trolley case. Currently, chargers are not very efficient – you have to be on the move for between one and six hours in order to obtain from 15 minutes to a full charge of your phone. That’s a lot of exercise! Nevertheless it’s a good way to keep in shape and at the same time re-charge your batteries.
Read more:
http://www.sustainablerotterdam.com/
http://www.club4climate.com/
http://www.interactivearchitecture.org/eco-dance-floor.html
http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/07/16/green-a-go-go-at-londons-first-eco-disco/
http://www.gotwind.org
http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=14343
http://www.gizmag.com/the-etive-kinetic-energy-charger-gives-power-walking-a-whole-new-meaning/11750/
www.kineticarchitecture.net