Mobile phones could soon be 'powered by walking'

Taking a stroll may soon be enough to re-charge your mobile phone, after US researchers developed a way to generate electricity from human motion. Placed in a shoe, the device captures the energy of moving micro droplets and converts it into electrical current.

Kinetic charging is already used in some low power devices such as watches and sensors.
The University of Wisconsin team published its study in the journal Nature Communications.
"Humans, generally speaking, are very powerful energy-producing machines," said Professor Tom Krupenkin from the university's mechanical engineering department.
"While sprinting, a person can produce as much as a kilowatt of power."
That, according to the scientists, is more than enough to power a standard mobile phone.
Although similar methods exist for low power electronics, up until now there was no practical mechanical to electrical conversion technology that could provide such high levels of output, Prof Krupenkin explained.
"What's been missing is the power in the watts range," Dr Ashley Taylor, a colleague of Prof Krupenkin.
"That's the power range needed for portable electronics."
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