15 Amazing Ways Electricity is Made
Get ready to be amazed by these 15 mind-blowing printed creations that will leave you in awe! From intricate designs to jaw-dropping details, this compilation showcases the limitless possibilities of the modern MACHINE! Watch how technology and creativity collide to produce stunning works of art that defy imagination. Whether you're a tech enthusiast, art lover, or simply curious about printed creations, this video is sure to spark your interest. Don't miss out on witnessing these incredible pieces that push the boundaries of what a MACHINE can achieve. Prepare to witness the future of innovation unfolding before your eyes!
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00:00We rely on electricity for almost every facet of our lives, but the electricity we use has to be produced somehow
00:07While you might be familiar with wind or solar power production, there are many other ways that electricity can be generated
00:13So join me as we take a look at 15 amazing machines that make electricity
00:19Number 15, tidal power
00:23Hydroelectric power stations because of their vast size are the largest power plants on earth
00:27But building one involves the creation of huge artificial reservoirs that have a huge impact on the surrounding environment
00:33This isn't the only way power can be derived from water though
00:37And one of the most ingenious techniques is to harness the natural tidal forces of the ocean
00:42Of all the tidal power stations in the world, the largest is the one at Siwa Lake in South Korea
00:47Which actually began life as a seawall that was built in 1994 to reduce flooding in the area
00:53Engineers noticed that the wall was still being subjected to tidal pressures
00:56However, and in the early 2000s the decision was made to install a power station to make use of this
01:02Ten underwater bulb turbines were installed and when the tide rises which causes the water to flow through them
01:08Propellers are driven and this motion is converted into electrical energy at a cost of
01:14560 million dollars the facility at Siwa Lake is able to produce up to
01:18254 megawatts, which is around half of what you'd expect to produce in a nuclear reactor
01:23Tidal power isn't possible in every coastal region
01:26But those in places where water levels change significantly throughout the day
01:30It could well be a realistic option for countries to increase their renewable energy production
01:36Number 14 human footstep converters
01:40There's a lot of energy that's simply wasted each day
01:43Companies have been racing to find ways to collect this and repurpose it in useful ways
01:48Take our own actions as an example. The process of walking involves using energy
01:52We've produced from what we eat and drink and it's converted into the action of our muscles, sound, heat and pressure applied to the ground
02:00PaveGen systems has designed a device that's actually able to turn the kinetic energy of our footsteps into electrical power
02:06Albeit a tiny amount, but when you think of the busiest places in the world, this has the potential to be a significant amount
02:14The floor panels have been demonstrated in several ways such as being installed at a nightclub where they partially powered the lighting and music
02:22In an underground station in London during the 2012 Olympics where the system powered lighting and also in several outdoor locations
02:29The company has kept the full design secret, but says that the underpinning principle is that of electromagnetic induction
02:35That's created by copper coils and magnets
02:37Every person walking across a street of these would generate enough to power an LED streetlamp for 30 seconds
02:44And even though that doesn't sound like a lot
02:46It's still more than is being utilized as things are and there's plenty more that can be done to improve this system's efficiency and generate
02:52larger amounts
02:55Number 13 supervoltaic glass
02:58Solar energy has become far more commonplace in the past few decades
03:02Thanks to the design of photovoltaic panels that can be easily installed virtually anywhere
03:08You'll have seen these devices fitted to the roofs of buildings and other places that are bathed in sunlight
03:13But they're often criticized for being unsightly and the places they can be used remain somewhat limited
03:18A company from England, however, has developed what arguably is the next generation of photovoltaic technology
03:25That could revolutionize the industry and see almost any surface turned into a power cell
03:30That's because by using electronic printing they've managed to make ones that are colorless and transparent
03:35So in effect, they look like glass
03:38Not only does the company claim that this gives the glass an extra layer of insulation
03:42But it also means it'll produce electricity and this could have a major impact if the windows of large buildings were replaced with them
03:48There's already a 40-story building in London that uses the technology and according to the owners more than a third of its energy
03:55Requirements are being met by the windows and they've noticeably reduced the cost of keeping it warm as well
04:00Just imagine if these were fitted to all the buildings in all major cities
04:04It would surely have a massive impact on our spiraling energy needs
04:09Number 12
04:10biogas
04:11There's constant pressure on farmers to keep their costs down but with rising energy prices
04:17This can almost seem like an impossible feat
04:19They do however have a natural resource that can be turned into energy on-site and the introduction of technology to do this cannot only
04:27Reduce how much they need from external sources, but also cut down on their overall methane emissions
04:32Which are a significant contributor to climate change
04:35So-called biogas systems are now becoming more efficient than ever and farmers have everything they need to take advantage
04:41They work by filling a tank with manure, which is readily available on a farm and sealed shut in an oxygen-free enclosure
04:49Bacteria then begin to turn the solid material into a liquid and release methane as a by-product
04:54Which can then be collected and used to convert into electricity
04:58The liquid that's formed also has a purpose as it's an ideal fertilizer
05:03Meaning all of what would traditionally be seen as waste is being reused
05:07It doesn't just stop at manure either a bus company in Finland uses a similar process with confiscated
05:13Alcohol to power the fleet and companies like coca-cola and Cabot Creamery are
05:18Increasingly sending organic waste from their factories to places with biogas systems to which helps to create energy
05:24Fertilize land that means far less is being sent straight to a landfill
05:30Number 11 microbial fuel cells
05:33The world around us is full of bacteria both good and bad ones
05:38Scientists have found new ways to harness them and in some cases actually use them to produce electricity
05:44Like every other organism bacteria breathe
05:47But when they do so oxidation takes place whereby the oxygen reacts at a chemical level this results in the release of electrons
05:54This is in many ways the same thing that happens during a chemical reaction
05:58Inside a battery and a team of researchers have now found a way to combine the two
06:02By putting breathing microbes in a system with a cathode and an anode which are the positive and negative rods of a battery
06:09It's possible to control the flow of these released electrons and therefore generate power
06:14Currently these microbial fuel cells are mainly made by using waste water as the process becomes more fully understood new applications are being developed
06:22Soon these types of fuel cells may for example be used to power miniature
06:26Aquatic robots that can function almost endlessly by replenishing the supply of bacteria from the surrounding water that they're submerged in
06:33By refining the process researchers have found that the fuel cells can be equal to those that purely use chemical reactions
06:39Like the ones we use in products around our homes and it may not be long until microbial
06:44Alternatives are a viable replacement for all of these
06:48Number 10 harvesting radio waves
06:51One of the greatest developments in energy production would be to simply be able to create it out of thin air
06:57While the laws of physics currently prohibit this from being possible
07:00The reality is that there's already something in the air that can be converted into power radio waves
07:06We are surrounded by devices that create them such as microwave ovens and Wi-Fi routers and rather than simply being the byproduct of energy
07:14That's been consumed. They are a potential source in their own right in March of 2021 an international research team
07:20Revealed their design for a device that's able to harness the waves around us and could one day be used to power small devices
07:27Known as a rectenna
07:29It's made up of two metal antennas that are attached to a conductive graphene material and covered with a metal coating
07:35Then when attached to a circuit such as one that powers a portable health monitor
07:39It's able to convert the energy of electromagnetic waves into electricity, which can be used to power the device or be stored
07:46Compared to a solar panel or a triboelectric device that generates power by a movement
07:51These new systems don't generate as much but they do produce a constant flow
07:55That's not reliant on being in sunlight or constantly moving so aren't seen as a full replacement for other options
08:01But a reliable complementary system that works alongside the main power source
08:07Number nine metro system heat capture
08:11Metro systems around the world can become notoriously hot during certain times of the year and this often makes things
08:17unbearable for the passengers that use them
08:19London's underground has a particular problem having been originally built well over a century ago
08:25without the ventilation systems that are standard practice with newer designs today and
08:30researchers have been trying to find ways to manage things an
08:33Estimated 89% of the heat in the underground network is produced by the trains themselves and only 7%
08:40Actually comes from the passengers of all the heat that's generated
08:4479% is absorbed by the tunnel walls
08:4710% is removed by ventilation and 11% remains in the tunnels
08:51But because in London the ground around the tunnels has already been heated after many decades of use
08:56There's now very little capacity for this heat to dissipate a study has found though that this heat can actually be
09:03Repurposed and instead of being created in the first place
09:06It can be converted into electricity in the same way that electric cars harvest energy when braking
09:12Recovery systems have been trialed on the trains and the resulting energy is put back into the rails instead of being released as heat
09:19Plans are now underway to incorporate technology like this across the network and it not only will hopefully make the conditions more comfortable for commuters
09:26But it'll reduce the cost and be far more efficient with energy usage
09:31Number eight E.coli
09:34When you think of E.coli, you probably imagine food poisoning and severe discomfort
09:38But the bacteria also has the potential to help us with our energy problems
09:43amazingly researchers have been experimenting on several harmless strains of E.coli and found a way to change their DNA in a way that when
09:50They feed on agricultural waste they will excrete crude oil
09:54However crazy as this may sound it comes from a realization that the fatty acids
09:58They normally produce are chemically very similar to oil and only a few changes were needed to make a substance
10:04That's almost identical in a further surprise the creators of the machine that does this claim that it can quite rightfully be called
10:11Renewable and carbon negative because more carbon is taken out of the atmosphere to produce it and will be put back in when the oil
10:18Is used of course
10:20There are major cost hurdles to make this anywhere near viable in comparison to the use of drilled oil
10:25The process is already significantly cheaper than it was a decade ago
10:29Still to produce enough to satisfy the needs of the United States a factory the size of Chicago would be needed
10:35So it's far from being practical as things stand
10:39Number seven soccer ball
10:41Soccer is the most popular sport of the planet and it'd be difficult to go to any country without
10:46Seeing kids having a kickabout in a park or on a street corner
10:50This gave Jessica Matthews a Harvard graduate whose family had come from Nigeria an idea
10:56She realized that the game was so prevalent that if there was a way to make a ball generate electricity
11:01It could provide power to people in developing countries that haven't yet got a reliable national infrastructure
11:07The result was called the socket which is essentially a soccer ball with a kinetic energy machine inside of it
11:13So when the ball is played with it generates electricity with just 30 minutes of play
11:18It's able to produce enough to keep an LED lit for three hours
11:21Which in places where kerosene lamps are still commonplace would not only reduce the amount of emissions
11:26But also improve the health of everyone who's no longer breathing in the fumes
11:30The socket of course costs substantially more than a normal soccer ball
11:34Which is the main reason why it wasn't adopted as widely as the inventor had hoped
11:39It does show though that with a little ingenuity
11:41There are ways that electricity can be produced that don't rely on huge infrastructure
11:46And there's great potential for devices like these moving forward
11:50Number six jellyfish fuel cell
11:53Because of how dark the depths of the oceans are there are countless species that have developed ways to produce their own light or
12:00Reflected from other sources many of these processes actually involve them generating a small electrical charge and a team of researchers in Sweden
12:08Have been looking at ways to turn this ability into a type of battery
12:11They focused on a specific series of common North American jellyfish
12:15Which contain a green fluorescent protein that allow them to glow in the dark
12:19The team collected samples of this protein by liquidizing thousands of specimens of the jellyfish
12:24And then began looking at where they could be used for
12:27They found that by adding a droplet of this protein to aluminum electrodes and then exposing them to ultraviolet light a tiny electric charge
12:35Was produced the levels aren't anything near what would be needed to operate most devices
12:40But could be a way to provide charge to nanodevices which are the next frontier in medical research
12:46After the initial success the researchers then looked at ways to make the batteries completely
12:51Self-sufficient without the need of ultraviolet light and found that it's possible if they combine the enzymes from fireflies or sea pansies
12:58Which produce their own photons?
12:59The next step is developing a way to harvest the enzymes and proteins without needing to collect huge quantities of jellyfish
13:06And it's hope that a viable technique using bacteria will allow for the green protein to be grown in labs instead
13:13Number five speed ramps
13:16Cars have become a crucial means of transportation for millions if not billions of people around the world
13:22But they're extremely inefficient in terms of how much energy is released from the fuel compared to how much is actually converted into motion
13:30Hybrid and electric vehicles have shown how energy can be harvested from braking
13:34But an inventor came up with another way to capture excess energy from cars an electro kinetic road ramp
13:41Ramps are of course used on road networks around the world to control the speed at which vehicles are traveling
13:46You'll find them along roads and entrances to parking lots and in various other places, too
13:51And each time you cross over one you're using more energy than you would if the surface was flat
13:56The clever idea with these new ramps is that while you'll still slow down to cross one and be using more energy in the car
14:02You'll also be pushing a generator that itself will generate more electricity
14:07Devices like these have for example been installed in the parking lots of stores where the energy produced proved to be enough to power the
14:13Cash registers and they could potentially be even used to power on street lighting in some neighborhoods
14:18It's not quite cost-effective yet to see the mass installations of devices like these
14:22But they could well become more commonplace in the next decade or so
14:26Number four human waste plant as
14:31Medical advances continue to enable us to live longer countries around the world are finding themselves needing to take care of many more
14:38Elderly citizens than ever before
14:40It's not only raising the issue of who will look after those that are most in need
14:44But also the extra resources that are required and companies have been looking at ways they can make things more efficient
14:50Japanese automation company super faiths has developed a clever machine that aims to combat the increasing problem of the large
14:57Quantities of adult diapers that are being sent to landfills from hospitals and retirement homes by instead using them to generate electricity
15:05Known as an FSD machine the diapers are put into the machine and are shredded dried cleaned and turned into fuel pellets
15:12These pellets are ready to use a day later and are around a third of the weight of what's put in
15:17They can even be used the same way as any other fuel whether that's in fires to heat homes or power plants to create electricity
15:24Which is surely much better than simply burying them in a country where the production of adult diapers is
15:30Increasing at the same time as the demand for ones for babies are reducing
15:34SFD machines are now being installed in numerous locations and could be seen elsewhere around the world, too
15:39Number three the air mask in recent years most of us have become accustomed to wearing masks wherever we go
15:48But what if they could be used for benefits beyond blocking particles in the air?
15:53That's what the air mask is designed to do and the first design was revealed in 2012 by Brazilian inventor Jacopo
15:59Lomoglia
16:01Within the mask or a series of tiny wind turbines and these generate small levels of electricity every time you breathe in or out
16:08According to the designer this should be more than enough to power a device like your smartphone with the attached cable
16:13And you can wear it wherever you want such as when you're out running or even when you're at home and asleep
16:18It's another example of a device that's capturing energy that would otherwise be lost into the atmosphere
16:23And used in a way that means you don't need to charge your devices from traditional sources as often
16:29Even if this mask meant you no longer plug your smartphone into the main supply this would have a major effect on overall energy consumption
16:36If everyone used one instead of a disposable paper mask
16:41Number two solar updraft tower
16:44Solar energy is becoming one of the most commonly seen renewable sources around the world
16:49But there are far more ways that you can generate electricity from the Sun than the photovoltaic cells that most solar farms use
16:56There's a new concept called a solar updraft tower that will be significantly cheaper to build than current
17:02Technologies and if it can prove to be anywhere near as effective at power production
17:06Then versions could soon be built across the world the principles of the tower are simple at the center of the power plant
17:13There'll be a tall chimney like tower, and it'll be surrounded by land
17:16That's covered with a cheap to build greenhouse like roof as the Sun shines down on this roof the heat warms the air beneath it
17:23And this will cause the hot air to move upwards and up the chimney if done at scale this could produce
17:29Significant airflow which would be used to drive turbines within the tower
17:33It's believed that this method could be used to produce a significant amount of electricity
17:38But despite being first proposed decades ago a fully functioning version hasn't yet been built
17:43Because of the huge initial cost and risks involved only a few prototypes are currently in operation
17:48But once the process can be proved to be cost-effective. We may well see more of them being constructed
17:55Number one onion power
17:58Companies around the world produce a huge amount of waste each day
18:01But some have begun to find that what they thought was originally worthless could in fact be the key to reducing their energy
18:08Requirements and at the same time as cutting costs will also have a great benefit to the environment
18:12That's what happened with California based gills onions
18:16Which is the largest fresh onion processor in the US as much as 40% of an onion goes to waste before the usable product is
18:22Retrieved and all of this would have either been sent to a landfill or used in part to fertilize the fields where new onions are
18:29Being grown. This was proving to be an extremely costly endeavor. However, and the company began looking into alternatives
18:35The waste material was found to have a large concentration of sugar in it and this made it ideal for anaerobic respiration
18:42They therefore designed a system where bacteria feed on the onions and produce methane which is then sent to the two
18:49300 kilowatt fuel cells here
18:51The electricity is put back into the factory and according to the owners accounts for around 40% of their overall needs
18:58This they say has saved them
19:00$700,000 per year from their energy bill and has reduced their annual greenhouse emissions by 30,000 tons
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