Company says shoes can power gadgets

TOKYO (AFP) - Tired of your iPod running out of power? A Japanese company says it has found a way to charge portable gadgets just by walking.

Telecoms giant NTT is developing shoes that generate electricity as you walk.

The shoes have a small generator attached to water-filled soles. Each step puts pressure on the soles, causing the water to spin a small turbine and generate power, NTT said.
The futuristic shoes currently generate 1.2 watts of electricity, "a level sufficient to run an iPod mobile music player forever, as long as the wearer keeps walking," said spokesman Hideomi Tenma.

"The company is trying to improve the power-generating capacity to 3 watts, which is the amount of electricity to power a mobile phone," he said.

"The shoes do not have a power-storage function, but you would be able to charge a mobile phone automatically or talk on it forever as long as you connect the phone to your shoes and just keep walking."

NTT hopes to put the generator into actual products as early as 2010.

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Years ago there was British firm marketing transistor radios powered by a hand crancked generator built in the radio. These "battery less" radios were destined for Africa so that social agencies and other government agencies can communicate with villagers via radio transmissions and programs.

At work we have LED torch (flash lights) powered with the same hand cranked generators to charged a small rechargeable battery. This is very good for emergency situations wherein one need an emergency power light source, as in a car breakdown. One does not need to worry whether there is fresh or charge up batteries in the torch.

Another hot item way back, and now is coming back to fore is the solar cells. A great source of renewable clean energy, which is great for countries with almost year long excellent sunshine. A friend have installed one of these devices to power his remote house to 1 kilowatt hour, to be able to run small appliances. Nice that one does not need to pay for electricity ever! Start up costs is about AU$20,000.00 but well worth the investment for free electricity with very small carbon footprint - renewable and clean source of power.