With Great Shoes Comes Great Power

Everyday, close to 19 million barrels of oil are consumed within the United States alone. This consumption of oil continues to increase every year despite the rise of alternative energies such as solar and wind power. This could all change however through the use of piezoelectric technologies. The science behind piezoelectricity is that a charge accumulates within certain solid materials such as crystals and certain ceramics as mechanical stress is exerted on them. The word literally means electricity resulting from pressure and is derived from the Greek word piezo, which means to squeeze and electron which stands for amber, a primitive source of electric charge. This technology has been worked with to try and integrate into medical technologies to be powered by ones own blood pressure in the past however it is now starting to expand its reach as people are realizing the true potential of this new source of power. Researches at RMIT University in Melbourne have been working on a way to turn the human body into a source of power using piezoelectrics with a thin film microchip layering which can harvest the energy from the pressure you exert on your sole as you walk. This approach has been attempted before but the end result was always a bit bulkier. This technology could eventually spread to allow things such as computers to be powered by your typing and gyms to be powered by the steps those within take. Perhaps even a touchscreen powered by your touch.

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