Electricity comes from the socket and water comes from the tap. Have you ever imagined to have electricity running out from the tap?
The business cases of the last weeks have demonstrated that you can have electricity in any place with running water available. The professors Daniel Kwok and Larry Kostiuk from the University of Alberta (Canada) made water flow through tiny channels of the size of "the electric double layer", thus creating a voltage. Depending on how many channels you have running parallel, a useful level of electric power can be generated.
Now the doors are open for "blue" innovations within this area: The Industrial Technology Research Center (ITRI) based in Taiwan is already developing faucets which indicate the temperature of the water. Also the water spraying devices which are installed for fire safety inside buildings, could generate their own electricity while spraying, which is then used to give light to the emergency exits. More creative minds are needed to develop innovations which use water and electricity at the same time.
Jeremy: Reading this reminds me how site-specific local energy provision can be: where water is abundant, hold it up-hill (dam or tank) and let it drive a turbine when released; in the desert have pv's to convert and heat-tanks to store; in the jungle use bioimass; in the tundra catch the wind and store it as heat . . .824 days ago 0 points