Capturing energy from the sun? Been there. Harnessing the power of wind. So yesterday. For those of you out there on the bleeding edge - the foks who think blogs are passe, only attend events that are flash announced on twitter, and were driving their priuses long before the rest of us knew how to pronounce the word photovoltaic (foh-toh-vol-tey-ik), this post is for you. Here are some of the more “out there” means of harnessing energy that should keep you newbie junkies fixed up.
Dance Dance Revolution. I first read about this nifty contraption when we were brainstorming event ideas to augment last year’s Outside Lands festival. I was dying to assemble a people-powered pen filled with machines that allowed folks to power up their mobile devices with truly human energy. The idea is that you lay down a carpet of springs under the dance floor that contract when people stomp and deliver energy upon release. The electricity created by the dancers can then go to power up disco lights, DJ stations, bar lights, etc etc. Sustainable clubbing. whoo hoo! (the same concept - capturing the energy of footsteps - has also been implemented in Tokyo’s main subway station).
Pull and Play. Forget squishy balls, there’s a new game in town for releasing that anxiety and stress at work - it’s called the Potenco pull-cord generator. You simply pull it much the way you would start a lawn mower, and in just two minutes of pulling, you can charge your iPod for six hours of play time. I suppose you’d have to switch from left-handed to 
right-handed so as not to become popeye-like in one arm, but I love the simplicity and ease of turning my afternoon cookie into a computer charge. AND, of course, the greatest use for these simple puppies is in the developing world, where infrastructure and resources are scarce. Seems like the smart folks at Popular Mechanics agree as they named the Potenco generator one of the 10 most brilliant gadgets of 2008.
Hamster Power! No, not a rallying cry for abandoned house pets, but a new breakthrough in an important piece of the energy puzzle: nanotechnology. Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology threw a nano-wired coat onto their lab hamster and let him do what he does 
best - run the wheel. The little guy’s frenetic sprinting generated a whopping 0.5 nanoamps, which isn’t enough to power your TIVO or toast a piece of bread, but is enough to power medical nanodevices. These little gizmos will be able to provide crucial monitoring from inside your body and provide invaluable biomedical feedback to doctors such as high blood pressure and early signs of cancer. (on a side note, the researchers originally tried rats, but wouldn’t you know it, the lazy bastards wouldn’t move.)
Functional Furniture. What if you could make electricity just by sitting around? You might be able to with the help of a new crop of furniture designed to be both hip/cool looking (as we know you bleeding edgers like to be) and green (energy-wise, not color-wise). First up is the patio table / solar generator. This modern-looking black table has a smattering of photovoltaic cells on its surface which can be used to power…stuff…you know…stuff you would use on a patio. Like a margarita blender. For the indoor power-geek in all of us, there’s the eco-rocking chair. In addition to powering your reading lamp simply by gently rocking to and fro, you can boast to your geek friends that your rocker contains both a dynamo AND a flywheel disc. yowza. Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s more comfortable than it looks.
23/02/2009 at 5:54 pm Permalink
ok now we’re talking! this is so much better than poop power or whatever other alternative you’re selling… if I had known i could rock my way to… well rock my way to right where i am i would have been on board sooner… now do i need to leave my apartment to get one?
23/02/2009 at 7:02 pm Permalink
the beauty of the internet is that you never ever EVER have to leave your apartment building again. if you get one of those under-sink composting units, you wouldn’t even really need to leave to empty your trash!