Dutch architect and scientists have delivered proof of principle for what started years ago with the question “Can we get energy from gravity?” The invention can now lead to a sustainable home energy generator.
Over the past six months, architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars at Universe Architecture, Amsterdam and scientists from VIRO in Hengelo (NL) have been working on the physical evidence.
As was expected based on earlier calculations, gravity combined with mechanical instability greatly improved the efficiency of the technique that turns mechanical pressure into electricity, the so-called piezoelectricity. The high increase in efficiency opens the door for a new type of energy generator.
Ruijssenaars said: “I tried to think of how one could have gravity present in one moment and not present in the next. Because with change one can generate electricity.”
The broadcast of the Reuters item on international TV stations caught the attention of energy investors. Already 10 per cent of the shares of Gravity Energy, the Amsterdam-based company that will license the patented invention, were purchased by Angel investor Jeroen van den Hamer.
“The high efficiency in comparison to existing sustainable methods such as wind turbines and solar panels caught our attention. This could be a game changer,” said van den Hamer.
The idea: By unbalancing a weight, gravitational energy becomes available as extra input into a piezo generator. A gentle breeze is enough to generate electricity. The remaining energy, that was stored in the piezo spring, can be used to bring the weight back into its unstable equilibrium position. This is the essence of the idea, with an ideal energy efficiency of 80 per cent per cycle.
Ruijssenaars, who is excited over the now proven invention and its high efficiency, firmly rejects the notion of a perpetuum mobile, since an input energy is always needed. Because the principle of the invention can be applied on a small and large scale. Ruijssenaars also sees possibilities for improving existing energy generating systems. – TradeArabia News Service
