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In an article in MIT's Technology Review published this week, Nokia's Research Centre in Cambridge, U.K. explains that its researchers have developed a way to convert AER from already existing structures like TV antennae, radio towers and wi-fi transmitters into enough juice to potentially charge a powered-off cell phone.
From the article, by Duncan Graham-Rowe:
[Markku Rouvala, a researcher at Nokia's Research Centre] says that his group is working towards a prototype that could harvest up to 50 milliwatts of power--enough to slowly recharge a phone that is switched off. He says current prototypes can harvest 3 to 5 milliwatts.If the researchers are successful, that could make a huge dent in the number of cell phone chargers that get produced (and discarded) every year; in February, the GSM Association, a mobile-phone industry group, estimated that 51,000 tons of cell phone chargers end up as e-waste every year.
The Nokia device will work on the same principles as a crystal radio set or radio frequency identification (RFID) tag: by converting electromagnetic waves into an electrical signal. This requires two passive circuits. "Even if you are only getting microwatts, you can still harvest energy, provided your circuit is not using more power than it's receiving," Rouvala says.
In addition to innovations in how mobile phones draw power, another innovation in how we charge our gadgets is coming from Green Plug, a group that wants to spread one type of charger for all types of gadgets.
A lot can happen in the next four years, especially since the GSMA is going to adopt a universal charging standard by 2012, but if Nokia can get it right, surely the greenest charger is the one that you don't have to make.
Phone photo CC-licensed by Flickr user timtom.ch.
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All the companies should get
All the companies should get together and at least come up with one common charger adaptor. I think people throw them away as they upgrade or get new phones, making their old charger worthless
Anything that can reduce the 51,000 tons has to be good.
The figure quoted in the article of 51,000 tons of waste from cell phone chargers is staggering. Anything that can be done to reduce that is a step in the right direction. Sadly, the pressure to keep up with the latest trend in mobile phones presumably causes a lot of this waste as a new phone will inevitably come with a new charger. I like the idea muted of a 'charger for all gadgets' - I have a drawer that is full of chargers for various gadgets, each labelled so that I know what it is for! This has to be a waste. I try to charge my devices using a solar chrager, but as ever there are question marks over how eco-friendly the production of such chargers is.