Household jogger can generate power

kolkata: jog a little in your jogger and generate enough electricity for a light bulb or let your kid slide down a slip and do so. if neither of the above suits you, flex your muscles by pushing weights to get the same result. better still, simply turn your water tap to generate electricity. strange as it may sound, mridul hira of barasat has explored all kinds of hybrid and renewable sources of energy that can generate 60-100 watts of electric power.hira will soon participate in an exhibition in new delhi to be inaugurated by the prime minister. what started off as a hobby for hira soon turned into an obsession to explore new methods of power generation, keeping in mind a time when fossil fuel will no more be available for use. he developed working models for such methods and shared his ideas with authorities of the ashoknagar municipality in north 24-parganas, who were planning an entertainment park. due to hira’s efforts, the entertainment park got indigenously manufactured solar monocars for the first time in eastern india. the car, with a permanent magnetic field core motor, is one of its kind. soon after, the west bengal renewable energy development agency summoned hira and offered him projects in the energy park on the eastern metropolitan bypass. soon there was no looking back for the undergraduate. from nonrenewable energy majors like tata-bp to energy parks in new delhi and bangalore, everybody began offering him projects. hira’s rotor-drum generator was a major hit. however, hira’s dream is to set up a science and energy park in north 24-parganas. “from robotics, a greenpower zone run by a ‘green’ battery to a eco-tunnel, the park will have everything,� hira said. to reduce costs, he has made a robotic arm with a drain pipe, powder case and battery cover that works as efficiently as the microprocessor controlled one. he has also devised models to generate emergency electric power from water flowing through pipes in multistoried buildings.this project is being sounded out by tata-bp for use in bangalore. hira is now concentrating on real life solutions rather than on amusement park models. he has developed an alternative to the conventional solar power generation system. his device can convert gravitional energy to about 100 watts of power, that can easliy light up compact flouroscent lamps (clf). hira lamented that there were no manufacturers of non-conventional raw materials and he was forced to import them. “i have to import dynamos from england and then modify them,� he said. “due to financial constraints, i can’t make real life devices. i have to either make models or sell my ideas to larger firms,� he added.