May 10, 2012
— read in fullHow to pull electricity out of thin air
Feb 13, 2012
New technology could replace batteries by pulling energy out of the air.
The system works by harvesting energy from radio waves which would otherwise be wasted. The idea is similar to a crystal radio - a radio which doesn’t need batteries because the power from the radio waves it receives is used to create the sound.
With some development, the technology could replace batteries in places where not much power is needed, such as remote controls or clocks. As well as providing free power and removing the need to change batteries, this would save thousands of batteries containing toxic chemicals from being dumped in landfills every year.
Researchers at the University of Bedfordshire created the technology in their spare time. But it could prove to be a very rewarding hobby: Professor Ben Allen, who led the team, says that the invention could be worth billions of pounds.
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