Green Your Network

Joshua Levitt

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Recycle those Keystrokes- and Generate Electricity!

By Green Your Network on Wed, 10/08/08 - 10:38am.

This link was sent to us by an alert co-worker. Hopefully also a co-worker schooled in Physics, because most of the article linked below is all but unintelligible to the layman. Nevertheless, the idea is so cool and so original that we have rolled up our sleeves and dove in to bring this news to you, here, possibly for the first time in the blogosphere. Also, there is a decent Abstract and Introduction which spells it out for anybody who doesn't have a PhD in Physics.

So have you ever sat at your computer, listening to the little fan burn off irreplaceable fossil fuels at a slow but steady rate, and wondered- isn't there some way that I can make a difference and return energy to the grid just by sitting here doing what I was going to do anyway? If you are anything like millions of other people in cyberspace the answer is probably no, but you've often wondered how you can make tens of thousands of dollars surfing the web from the comfort of your own home. For this, however, there are other dedicated blogs- here at the Green Your Network Blog we are concerned with making a difference in Corporate America to impact positively on the environment. We are frankly very excited about this new innovation that we are just about to describe.

The current edition of the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering (http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/JMM) includes a paper with the following evocative title: A micromachined energy harvester from a keyboard using combined electromagnetic and piezoelectric conversion. Fascinating and, despite what a quick first reading might suggest, wholly unrelated to small toy cars. Rather, two researchers from the University of Missouri- Columbia have developed a working prototype for a computer keyboard that generates energy from keystrokes. The combination of electromagnetic and piezoelectric conversion means, in simple English, that both velocity and frequency of keystrokes can be used to generate electricity and the working prototype suggests that it ought to be possible to recharge laptop batteries while typing, simply by typing.

Obviously, at this early stage of the game it is premature to start imagining laptop computers without batteries, desktop computers with no wall plugs or cubicle arrays taking the place of generators. Nevertheless the practical implementation of a technology that harvests biomechanical energy in a non-invasive, non-disruptive manner is a very encouraging sign. As fanciful as it may seem today, perhaps, just such a scenario of an office full or workers providing the additional power consumed during working hours by- working- may not be so far off. As we as a species consider ways to preserve fossil fuels and reduce energy consumption, we would do well to support and encourage technologies such as this one that make use of the energy we are already expending with little to show for it than the production of another blog.

Abstract and a link to download the paper here: http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0960-1317/18/10/104016

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