There are really some bizarre ways of generating electricity. New research is uncovering some quirky ways of getting electricity. Article is meant to be fun...
(A quick disclaimer: this is not a diary about energy making a difference in our lives-- Obama is focusing on the right issue right now: energy efficiency. Buildings make up about 60% of our energy use and it could be 0% if we took the DOEs research (and other countries work) seriously.)
It's amazing what you can get electricity from! These are some fun technologies I've read about in the past year. I didn't include the more serious stuff, just sources of energy I found amusing. Feel free to add ones you've come across in the comments...
Rain
Using a PVDF plastic, which has a property of piezoelectricity
Clothing
Also using piezoelectricity, but with nanowires (50 nanometers in diameter) of zinc oxide (and alternating wires coated in gold)
Garbage
Using plasma
Bar and Beer Waste
Ok, it's obviously a press release, but it gets you some info on how its getting used by some big players. A lot of beer companies are getting on board, not just the one mentioned, which is great to see.
Sewage
You didn't really need to know this!