Great Idea: Shoe Power

http://host.madison.com/news/local/education/university/article_82a17e5c-cdec-11e0-a7b6-001cc4c03286.html

            With the threat of global warming constantly looming overhead, people all around the world have started to search for new ways of creating energy that don’t generate the greenhouse gasses responsible for this trend. So far, things like wind farms and hydrogen power have been developed as possible alternatives to things like burning gasoline and coal, but they have not been enough to completely curb our addiction to fossil fuels.

            

            Tom Krupenkin and J. Ashley Taylor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison have come up with their own device to combat this issue.  Attempting to utilize the convenient and abundant power generated through the process of walking, these scientists have invented a device that fits inside the bottom of a shoe and transforms the force of every step into usable electricity. Utilizing a process called “reverse electro-wetting”, these scientists have developed a working prototype. The idea is basically that two pouches of a water/oil mixture rest at the heel and toe of the shoe respectively. With every step, the foot puts pressure on one of the pouches and transfers the liquid through a small tube lined with electrodes connecting the two pouches. When the water is forced through the electrode lined tube electricity is generated. This also transfers the liquid to the opposite pouch and the process is repeated over and over again. Their proposal is to use this electricity to power cells phones, which they have found a way to wirelessly connect to their shoe device which they call a “footwear-embedded harvester”.

The basic idea
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-11/capturing-electricity-shoe

            

           While it may not be able to single-handedly solve our need for an efficient source of clean energy, the footwear-embedded harvester is definitely a clever step in the right direction. Scientists need to be looking for situations where there is already potential to generate energy and capitalize on them. If there is potential to harvest energy from just walking around every day, think of all the other possible opportunities that we just haven’t thought of yet. Their ability to recognize this particular opportunity and create a way to take advantage of it is a great idea.