Ideas within topic products,energy: (click suns to rate or comment on ideas)
| 1 |
| An ionic exchange converter for removing carbon dioxide from car exhaust to prevent climate change. (automotive, CO2, emissions) | |
| 2 |
| A high efficiency wood burning stove with a built in heat exchanger to limit the amount of heat that goes out the chimney. When the stove is burning properly the stove pipe to the chimney is cool enough to touch. | |
| 3 |
| Aerogel made of rice husks for insulation and other applications: Green Earth Aerogel. | |
| 4 |
| Meter to monitor power usage (watts/amps) per outlet. Variation to be uses at circuit (fuse) panel to trace hi-use circuits. Could be simple analog or digital/programmable to compute cost of use. Could be separate attachment or built into outlet/breaker. | |
| 5 |
| To protect against loss of power to a nuclear power plant, use a water tower. Gravity can force cool water through the reactor until power is restored. | |
| 6 |
| Put a water jacket on air conditioning condensing coils/pipes so that hot water can be created for free (and make the a/c more efficient!). | |
| 7 |
| Focus solar energy (mirrors) to run a Stirling (heat) engine for pumping water or AC power, esp. in remote places. Use ambient air or nearby water for cold sink. Focus sunlight on water or molten salt reservoir for an even heat source (thermal inertia). | |
| 8 |
| LEDs for flashlights. They use less power than incandescent lights but last much longer and are much brighter when several are bunched together. | |
| 9 |
| There can be some sort of device (piezoelectric generator?) beneath the roads which when pressed by passing vehicles can generate power, and the road lights can be powered through them without fuel cost. | |
| 10 |
| Use windmills for intermittent power in poor, remote areas, as farms in the US plains formerly used to pump water. Use for water pumping and purification, or making ice for underground ice house. (development,electricity) | |
| 11 |
| A tea or coffee mug with a built in thermostat-controlled, battery-operated heater to keep the coffee warm for people who enjoy sipping the coffee for long durations. The heater can be switched on before serving. | |
| 12 |
| A fan with a temperature sensitive regulator. A cut off temperature could be set to switch off the fan (say 23 or 24 degrees C). | |
| 13 |
| Create a night light that senses the other lighting sources in your room. For example when you turn off your bedroom light, it comes on for 60 seconds then dims to off. This gives you time to find your bed! Interior lights in cars can already do this. | |
| 14 |
| Special, switched outlet in back of pc to shut down the monitor and any other related devices when not in use. Typical classroom with monitors left on uses a kilowatt or more. That's a few bucks per day. (computers) | |
| 15 |
| Apply a traser or glow-in-dark sticker to flash lights. When the power fails, you can spot and head for the flash light in the dark. | |
| 16 |
| A device that reads and sends electric meter reading to the electric supply company through telephone lines would be a real useful thing. The device can be programmed to dial the electric company once a month. | |
| 17 |
| Place giant magnifying glasses over solar panels to concentrate the sun's rays and make solar energy more efficient. | |
| 18 |
| Switches under roadways or footpaths so that passing vehicles or people will press the arm (counterpart of the handle in mechanical torch). This will switch on the streetlights only for that section of road, saving money on lighting. | |
| 19 |
| Small air destratifiers can balance ceiling-floor temperatures for businesses & home owners to save on heating and AC. (energy conservation) | |
| 20 |
| Use a temperature sensor on the ceiling fan to switch on when the room temperature is high and switch off when temp. goes to normal. This will save electricity, especially at night. | |
| 21 |
| Pressure cookers have fixed mass weights for the pressure release valves. These should be replaced by a set of 3 detachable weights to allow low, medium and high pressure cooking as necessary, depending on the food being cooked, to save fuel consumption. | |
| 22 |
| A way to produce hydroelectric power with out using dams may be to use ocean current or rivers that would turn turbines that may be under or above the water, like a water wheel. | |
| 23 |
| A leak detection system. Battery powered, with ultrasonic transmitter and receiver (adjustable sensitivity/LED level indicators). Multiple uses: car/fridge door seals, welded joints, window seals, containers, etc. Prototypes available. | |
| 24 |
| Conserve water in industrial cooling tower operations with a vapor recovery system which will reduce the need for water make-up, drawoff, and chemical make-up. Save water, save money, and reduce pollution emissions. | |
| 25 |
| Paper used for shopping bags is to be replaced by cotton bags (old fabric rags, etc). | |
| 26 |
| A bluetooth device to insert into wall socket to measure electric usage and transmit to computer. Similar device to attach to wired devices like electric heater. Computer collects and produces usage graphics. Possible rental. | |
| 27 |
| During summer in many parts of the world, the day temperature is high, but after nightfall temperature drops drastically. In those areas the air conditioners, if fitted with an outside temperature sensor, could directly pump in cold outside air. | |
| 28 |
| A ceiling fan with a thermostat or a timer so that the fan rotation speed can be programmed to decrease or increase with temperature or time. | |
| 29 |
| A cellphone charger can be developed using a computer fan. Put a computer fan to your bike. While the bike moves, the energy generated by the rotating computer fan is enough to charge a cellphone (even when the bike is moving at 20 KPH). | |
| 30 |
| New bicycle safety flashing lights, no batteries, no gears. Uses magnet on spoke to turn magnet in generator and power the light. 1 white light in front, 2 red lights at back. Save batteries and environment. | |
| 31 |
| The government should create cost-effective street light systems that can sense if a car is nearby and automatically turn on only then, thus reducing HUGE amounts of power for lights. | |
| 32 |
| Like electric blankets, make mattresses with a thermostat which can be adjusted for a particular temperature. | |
| 33 |
| Have glow-in-the-dark stickers pasted near bulbs that will glow in dark once light goes off. At least it will be of some help before one finds an emergency light or a candle. | |
| 34 |
| You can now buy wind-up mobile phone chargers. How about a wind-up laptop battery?! It would have a low power warning sound or light so the user just winds it up again and never runs out of power! | |
| 35 |
| Attach "generators" to stationary bikes, to store electricity for practical and emergency use. | |
| 36 |
| Infra Red reflective architectural coatings that I have developed reduce energy use by 20-40%. Almost any color available. $2000 tax credit for use of energy barrier system per house in US. 1-800-224-2344 (energy conservation) | |
| 37 |
| Spring arrangement in electric plug and socket may avoid loose contacts, thus improving the efficiency of electricity consumption. | |
| 38 |
| Gadget for the handle on coffee pots, that displays the last time a pot of coffee was made. Especially good for large companies where people drink and make coffee all day long. You never know if the coffee has been freshly brewed or not. | |
| 39 |
| To save space and energy, use a tankless water heater. (Example.) They last 30+ years and are safer. They are common in crowded places such as Hong Kong. | |
| 40 |
| A gasoline pump that you can pick how much fuel you want, then insert the money into it, like you do a vending machine, or like many pumps already can do with credit/debit cards. It would save time and hassle. | |
| 41 |
| Globular Dry Ice (solid CO2) capsules can be added to the water/foam jet to extinguish fire. This will reduce water/foam consumption & the wet residue after extinguishing fire. The capsules may also reach greater heights than fluids. | |
| 42 |
| Electric recharge parking meters: pop in quarters to fill up your electric car while at work. | |
| 43 |
| Combine electric slow cooker and solar oven to have both a low energy appliance and minimal cooking temperatures. | |
| 44 |
| For radios and other devices that can use an internal, dynamo-power generator: A way to capture other kinds of energy, such as the energy of gravity, as an alternative to hand cranking. | |
| 45 |
| Develop laptops & mobile phones that can be recharged by solar power. | |
| 46 |
| Develop inverter batteries using solar power. | |
| 47 |
| Video game idea: Diablo 2 for Playstation 2. A dark, fantasy-themed, role-playing game for 1 player. Character classes: Confessor/Warrior Caster/Necromancer/Barbarian/Paladin. Players can hire 5 of several mercenaries to help them. | |
| 48 |
| Install spare batteries in cars to get charged after original is fully charged. Spare batteries can be removed and used for emergency lighting applications or in case the primary battery dies. | |
| 49 |
| Cordless transmission of electrical energy, as created by Nicola Tesla, applied to all electric appliances, such as vacuum cleaners, fans, refrigerators, radio and TV sets, etc. | |
| 50 |
| Flaring excess methane from wells wastes energy. Use that energy to extract carbon dioxide from the air. | |