Georgia Tech Unveils Prototype Nanogenerator

Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology have created a working prototype nanogenerator capable of generating as much as 4 watts per cubic centimeter of continuous direct current. The generators are green (to use), drawing power from natural motion in the surrounding environment. They are based on non-toxic chemicals and should be safe for use in biomechanical implants, but that's not their only potential use. From the article: "If you had a device like this in your shoes when you walked, you would be able to generate your own small current to power small electronics," Wang noted. "Anything that makes the nanowires move within the generator can be used for generating power. Very little force is required to move them."

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Re:Electric Emoticon Announcement

[evilviper]

Find yourself a baren 1 acre field in the desert in Northern California that gets minor earthquakes all the time [...] you've got a 162MW generating plant

This is COMPLETE nonsense, about on-par with any kid coming up with the idea of hooking a motor up to a generator...

I can't possibly believe there's 1 acre of land, anywhere, outputting 162MWs of power in vibrations. If it was, the sand would be MELTING right now.

Reality will set in if you start trying this. Any vibrations you feel are very small. As per Carnot, theoretical efficiency is low, so you'll get almost no energy out of such small vibration. Even if that wasn't the case, and you could extract 100% of the energy cheaply and easily, you'd quickly realize that every generator you use REMOVES that energy (less vibration), so the next will have less, and the next will have even less, and the next will have less still. To actually get MWs of power from tectonic activity would require a device that actually stops the plates from moving.

It's the same reason we're never going to be able to get ALL of our energy from hydro, wind, etc. Putting up significantly more dams or windmills has diminishing returns, as would your scheme, if it were remotely POSSIBLE to begin with.