Ugly Sneakers Generate Power While You Walk
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.21.08
There is nothing worse than running out of juice on your cellphone or iPod when you are out walking the streets. NTT appears to have solved this problem; water-filled soles are attached to a small turbine. With every squishy step you take, the water is pumped through the turbine which runs the generator which generates 1.2 watts of electricity, "“a level sufficient to run an iPod mobile music player forever, as long as the wearer keeps walking,” said spokesman Hideomi Tenma. Japan Probe via Tokyo Mango
Other Human-powered ideas in TreeHugger:
The Ultimate Carnival Ride: A Human - Powered Ferris Wheel
Portland's Green Microgym Channels Human Exercise Power Into Electricity
Human Power Generator from Windstream Power
Treadmills Suck. (Kilowatts)
The Good Human Hosts Carnival of the Green
Bioneers 2008: Mark Sommer Creates Educasts for Mobile Learning
It looks pretty un-impressive but a device that takes advantage of kinetic energy for personal devices and that is seamlessly integrated into clothing is an amazing idea. And an incentive for exercise ;).
Cool. Human power otherwise wasted is not a bad way to run small devices.
Just remember, every calorie of food you eat takes several calories of fossil fuel energy to produce, so if this kind of device makes you work harder to power these devices, then it may not be as green as just plugging it in. Still, these give you a longer battery life, which is always useful.
Two words. Still. Suit.