It’s about time: Researchers invent walking power plants
Omar Akkad at the Globe and Mail wrote this intriguing piece (registration may be required) about a backpack that can capture energy while the person who wears it walks. It was invented by a team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. The “Suspended-load Backpack” apparently improves how you walk, but can also generate up to 7.4 watts while you do the walking — enough to power cell phones and other electronic gadgets. Think military applications.
The Globe article describes how it works:
The electricity can be used as it is generated, or stored in a lightweight rechargeable battery. The backpack takes advantage of the hip’s movement to generate electricity. When a person walks, they place one foot on the ground and vault over it with the rest of their body. This movement causes the hip to move up and down about 4 to 7 centimetres. The backpack’s load plate is mounted to the pack and suspended by springs, which allows the load to echo the hip’s movement. This drives a rack-and-pinion device, which in turn powers a motor that acts as a generator. The result is a conversion of the body’s mechanical energy to electricity.
What can I say — pretty darn cool. Now, if we could only figure out a way to capture energy from hamsters as they run on their little wheels. And what about hyperactive children? The possibilities are endless… human rights aside. 
Tyler Hamilton is editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine and a business columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the clean technology and green energy market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper.
