As solar panels and wind turbines become more and more commonplace in homes, it appears that green energy is finally moving into mainstream. But lest you fear that solar power is becoming too played out, there are still plenty of TRULY ALTERNATIVE energy sources to out there to sink your trendspotting teeth into. From kinetic energy to sound-power and even natural waste (yes, poo), there are more and more creative, weird, and super-promising ways to deliver all the power you need from renewable energy sources all around us. Here are our top 5 Really Alternative Energy Sources…..
1. POO POWER Yes, we’re serious. Poop produces methane, which is not only a greenhouse gas, but can be harnessed and used for viable renewable energy. While the technology and processes are still being refined, it’s not unlikely that cow manure will be the new solar panel in the coming years. Dogs and even human waste might eventually join the poo parade as well.
2. SOUND ENERGY While there isn’t a residential prototype for this technology built yet, the idea that soundwaves could be transformed into usable energy is not only promising, but mind-blowing. University of Utah Physicist Orest Symko and his students have developed a way to turn excess heat into sound and finally into electricity, and we can’t wait to see this technology applied to home energy.
3. HUMAN MOTION We’ve seen this technology used in the Sustainable Dance Club as well as in Hong Kong’s human-powered gyms, and the principle could easily be applied to residences as well. When we humans walk, dance, work out, run, move, we create energy. Through new technology, this energy can be harnessed into usable energy to cycle back into our buildings, dance clubs, gyms, and homes. Its only a matter of time before the Sustainable Dance Club concept comes makes inroads into the home.
4. WIND-KINETICS Going way beyond a simple wind turbine, Michael Jantzen’s Wind Shaped Pavilion turns architecture into renewable energy source. The kinetic wind house is a large fabric structure that rotates in segments around a central support frame, generating enough electricity as it moves to light the pavilion at night. This concept takes wind power to a whole new level.
5. SPINACH (i.e photosynthesis) Not just full of nutrients for your body, spinach also has the potential to nourish your house. The winning entry from the Cradle to Cradle House competition proposed an amazing solar energy harvesting system based on photosynthesis, using a solar cell system whose main component for generating electricity is a protein called Photosystem I, which is derived from spinach.
15 Responses to “TOP 5 Weirdest Ways to Power Your Home”
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The real answer is efficiency
True. What ever is the most efficient with less cost in conversion will be the winner. My guess is the POO. I’ve always been a fan of methane usage.
I certainly would like to know more about the power of Poo…
Mr. Hanky would be mighty proud!
(southpark for all the clueless)
It seems to me there’s already a prison in Rwanda (?) that is using human feces in a biofuel power system, to run lights and such…
exxonmobil has many great technologies stored that they are not using. anti-trust lawsuits?
Farmers in Denmark use cow poo to produce electricity to use on their farm.
Oil is anachronistic.
Divest!!!!!
One place where they do harness methane from feces in the US is at the Heifer International Ranch in central Arkansas. I think they extract it from pig feces and use it to cook their food. It’s a very cool place. check it out.
http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.201557/
Sillies, poo power isn’t weird. A large section of humanity use dung for fuel already. Plus is it really any weirder that burning the remains of prehistoric zooplankton and algae that have been preserved under high pressure and anoxic conditions in very hard to reach places? Poo, at least, is far easier to come by.
my name jordan and i would like to use your DJ picture for my project please reply asap
Loving the cool facts because we need them for a school project so we put them in and got top marks fank yooooooooooo
Lois, Annina,Lucy,Sophie and Abi
xxx
>> When we humans walk, dance, work out, run, move, we create energy.
Not to be too much of stickler, but that\’s just wrong. The first law of thermodynamics is the conservation of energy; ie. energy can not be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_of_energy
I only mention it because this is incredibly pertinent when you\’re talking about different means of \”producing\” energy. You have to remember that it\’s always a tradeoff; you\’re always going to use up some existing energy source, whether it\’s a fuel or a natural source like wind/water/solar. The thing to look for is how effective this conversion is, how expensive this \’fuel\’ is. The best ideas here are using energy that would be wasted otherwise.
Some really neat ideas, problem is that none of them (save for poo) are even close to being ready to meet any kind of solution. So if there is a solution that will be able to work in the next few years I am all for it. If not, drill.
hello!
hope to learn more stuff, specially to info tech and related courses…