2 MIT students propose harvesting people power
We can get energy from the sun, wind, and water. But two graduate students at MIT have that would let people harvest energy from... well, from people. No, we're not talking Soylent Green. But it takes energy for you to walk from place to place. Their plan is to recapture some of that energy and turn it into electricity.James Graham and Thaddeus Jusczyk are students at MIT's School of Architecture and Planning. Here's how their "crowd farm" system would work. You install a responsive sub-floor in a public space like a train station. As people walk to and fro, they slightly depress blocks under the floor. As the blocks slip against one another, a device would convert the mechanical energy into electricity.
You wouldn't get a ton of energy. But perhaps there'd be enough to power the train station's lighting. Or at least an informational sign that says "you made this sign light up."
[via CNet]
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