 Maybe when people talk about mice running in a wheel to power their Internet connection...they are indeed onto something.
Science Daily has published an article which states, "Two graduate students at MIT's School of Architecture and Planning want to harvest the energy of human movement in urban settings, like commuters in a train station or fans at a concert."
My first initial thought was, I'm not sure how one could actually go about doing this. Do we really want a bunch of people in charge of running a train?
The students' prototype was ingenious to say the least. "The students' test case, displayed at the Venice Biennale and in a train station in Torino, Italy, was a prototype stool that exploits the passive act of sitting to generate power. The weight of the body on the seat causes a flywheel to spin, which powers a dynamo that, in turn, lights four LEDs."
I'm all for conserving energy. Absolutely all for it, and many moons ago people did power everything they used on their own. But there are reasons those practices ended. This can impact public safety on such a great level. Energy conservation is a must. You'll hear no arguments from me on that fact, but I'm not sure this would be the best route.
This graphic is from the MIT School of Architecture and Planning.Labels: energy efficiency |
