They may seem like such small devices – but cellphones have a surprisingly large environmental footprint, and the whole cellphone charging business is a serious pain in the butt to boot. Every cellphone model seems to requires a different type of charger (so excessive amounts of plastic cords and gadgets need to be produced for each type of phone), they suck copious amounts of vampire power when you leave them plugged into the wall, and it is so easy to lose your charger or forget to charge your phone if you are on the road a lot.
Well, for those of you who hate the pain of cell-phone charging, there is now a promising new technology that could get rid of the messy problem of cellphone chargers once and for all, AND eliminate 30 to 40 percent of the toxic heavy metals that are currently found in cell-phone batteries. New startup M2E (Motion 2 Energy) has developed a technology which converts the kinetic energy from minor movement into an electrical charge to power mobile communication devices: meaning in just a few years, we could all toss out our cellphone chargers and charge up our phones simply by walking around with them during the day!
Kinetic energy generation has been around forever (remember wind-up watches?) and we’ve touched on it here with the handcrank electronics chargers of Freeplay , the Sustainable Dance Club, and the People-Powered Gyms. However what is so new and so promising about M2E is the fact that their microgenerator technology allows even the slightest jostling movement to provide a significant charge. So instead of having to hand-crank your cell phone (which is possible, but doesn’t sound too fun), your phone would simply just need a little minor jostling in your bag or jacket while you walk around to stay fully charged. Sounds a lot easier than having to plug in and recharge every night, right?
It’s not only the environmental impact of this technology that seems so promising, but also the convenience. If an eco-friendly product actually makes life more convenient for most people, we know it won’t be a hard sell to get people to adopt it. That’s why we can’t wait for this new technology to make its way into mainstream consumer products. Right now M2E’s technology is only being used by the U.S Army to outfit troops on the battlefield. But we think it is only a matter of time before this useful new form of mobile energy generation becomes more widely available. Nokia, Motorola and Samsung, please start taking notes now…
If you are interested in this groundbreaking new technology, stay tuned for the Greener Gadgets Conference on February 1st in NYC. M2E’s Director of Business Development, Regan Warner-Rowe will be speaking on a panel about kinetic microgenerators, along with several other entrepreneurs in mobile renewable energy generation. My lovely sister (and Editor of Earth2tech) Katie Fehrenbacher will be moderating this discussion, and it is sure to be one of the highlights of the day. If you are in NYC, you should definitely try to make it out.
+ Greener Gadgets Conference
+ Motion 2 Energy
“…your phone would simply just need a little minor jostling in your bag or jacket while you walk around to stay fully charged.”
This is amazing news. Many people only walk from their house to their car, to their office and back, but even this small amount of movement would work for them.
This would be great for active people with mp3 players.
Wow….we’ll be able to generate huge amounts of power with…MARATHONS
I have a flash light that works on kenetic engergy and it works great. Hope this has the power for a cell….or even better for an iphone.
http://www.robotfuture.com
Wow, this is great new technology!
Today’s been a great day. I just found this new thing, and BreakPost.com, a blogging site
that shares 100% adsense income. So, 2 pluses for me.
Yes, mp3 will work very well.
Nice for hearing aids, PDAs, PSPs, lazer pointers, etc. Just about anything pocketable.
Looking forward to it.
What about shock absorbers on vehicles?
I have a bad habit of letting my phone run until it dies, this just made my day ;^)
This is awesome, i hope it gets implemented into everyday things quickly. Many times i see things like this and they never catch on. I was thinking a wireless mouse would work well with one of these, charging and replacing batteries is major down fall for them. Keyboard probably wouldn’t work well unless your a violent typer.
Yes it might be good but why not a plugin model for batteries you already have… then you could attach it to various devices and stop it from charging when you dont want it to.
The problem with lithium batteries always charging is that they will loose life over time…one needs to cycle a battery every so often which would be difficult with this in-battery device.
(Actually a question instead of a comment)
So, based on what you’re showing, using the same rules of movement, etc., would it be feasible to eventually be able to build a power-producing fabric?
It is being developed for the DoD. They hope to commercialize it after the government has had their fun, and gives them the all clear.
[...] wished you could charge your cell phones and laptop on the go – in your car, on a train, or just walking around? There are many new gadgets for mobile renewable energy: from solar gadget chargers, to kinetic [...]
[...] wished you could charge your cell phones and laptop on the go – in your car, on a train, or just walking around? There are many new gadgets for mobile renewable energy: from solar gadget chargers, to kinetic [...]
Sounds like a perfect application into the Video game workd with all the motion capture devices that run on Batteries or power packs this could at least eliminate that drain.
Imagine the application to childrens toys. Not only would they never need replacement batteries but you could actually create energy for other uses by exchanging full ones for empty.
Not to mention the use in video games where motion capture systems like the Wii are gaining popularity. With these motion to energy systems they would no longer need batteries or chargers.
Remote controls that don’t need much energy would be excellent as well.
Besides what’s everyones first reaction if the conventional batteries are dying? Shake it of course! Brilliant! !
I can’t wait to buy. Excellent applications.!
[...] Earlier this year we highlighted Idaho startup M2E Power’s push to develop motion-powered electronics for the military. Now M2E is emphasizing the commercial applications for their technology, with a specific goal: revolutionizing cell phone batteries. M2E will announce the development of an external charger later this month that will generate between 300 and 700 percent more energy than current kinetic energy technologies, and may eventually replace cell phone batteries altogether. [...]
They’ve had this technology for years in watches. Considering that we carry most cellphones on our hip or in a purse, I would think that this would make a lot of sense. I wonder if the a lot of the batteries volume would end up being consumed by the kinetic energy capture module and so the stand by life would be pitiful?
Nice.
http://www.cellular-phone-batteries.com/