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Kinetic energy is not something we talk about a lot, but it is one of the most exciting technologies coming to market and potential solution to the world's over-reliance on legacy sources of energy such as fossil fuel. So why is it so important? Simply put, kinetic energy is all around us and if harnessed correctly, it could become one of the most important sources of clean energy we have at our disposal and an important weapon in helping fight climate change.
What is kinetic energy?
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjg5NjExNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5NzY0NDU3MH0.cMqExLnV6RvQlSNFOL6JLXU8e9zvZNtA-UFTjqIKCgI/img.jpg?width=980" id="61ed5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="807c740ffc08ff2a862448c27fcea32e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="" />manu mangalassery – Pexels.com
<p>In short, it is the energy of motion. When you move your body or a physical object, you are doing so with kinetic energy. A person walking, a ball being kicked or even an item falling from a table all possess kinetic energy – it is the force that is propelling them forward. You can even work out the amount of kinetic energy in joules using a simple equation, which I won't bore you with here, but what this means is that every individual and object have the potential to produce kinetic energy. </p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjg5NjExNi9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDYyNDcyOH0.4KVKFkXIWXs8PhKWIb1oxNqFrXmqc2Oa7tLSlucO6dQ/img.gif?width=980" id="0f74f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e9c5e9d25a09e253444db2f74863eee1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>This is why I am talking about kinetic energy with such a passion – because it has such amazing potential – we just need to change our behaviours to tap into this technology and ensure there is a planet Earth left in all our futures. </p>
Why is it so important?
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkwNDA0NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5OTc5Nzc4OH0.ZdshJ84SOctl4Dps7zhSAZGOCo3GetUO4xX-Fs7Lb2Y/img.jpg?width=980" id="32c6c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f41d1199b043b5a8136b6777b3014c66" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Pixabay - Pexels.com
<p>With <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/12/countries-companies-net-zero-carbon-emissions/" target="_blank">67 countries and eight US states</a> working towards carbon net neutral targets, clean energy solutions need to be identified and implemented as soon as possible.</p><p>In tandem, as set out by the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/09/countries-are-announcing-plans-to-phase-out-petrol-and-diesel-cars-is-yours-on-the-list/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a> way back in 2017, many countries are also working to reduce the number of petrol and diesel cars in use by 2040 at the latest, although some countries such as UK and Norway look to achieve that by at least 2035. </p><p>This is where kinetic energy comes into the equation. Most <a href="https://www.buyacar.co.uk/cars/economical-cars/hybrid-cars/1200/what-is-a-self-charging-hybrid-car" target="_blank">self-charging hybrid electric vehicles</a> are based on kinetic energy. Have you ever booked an Uber and rode in one of the world's most popular self-charging hybrids – the Toyota Prius? Well if you have, you have been in a car that is powered by kinetic energy. Every time the car breaks, kinetic energy is produced which is stored in the cars batteries and then reused to help drive the car forward. So, it makes sense that as we slowly wean the planet off of its reliance on fossil fuels, particularly to power the many, many, many cars on the road, kinetic energy capabilities offer the perfect 'clean energy' solution. In fact, as of 2020, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/08/uber-london-hybrid-fully-electric-cars-2020-vehicles" target="_blank">Uber insists</a> that every one of its London drivers needs to drive a fully electric or petrol/electric hybrid car. </p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="46fc03bb81c2a447fd8b2b392cd0330b"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q8RS-8OkUnM?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
Where else can kinetic energy be used?
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkwNDA1Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NjE2MTc5OH0.gGMywzYF7sorhlHDphEziA4XtcV4gTbxXGxxhTkn2sE/img.jpg?width=980" id="b660d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="19b35b7b92a8ba765b6805e0ef00e87c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Hasan Albari - Pexels.com
<p>But of course, this technology doesn't come cheap and, right now, electric cars are not something we can all afford. But there are many ways in which we can all harness and use kinetic energy in our day to day lives. Take your phone for example, you charge it every day, right? Well, swap your phone charger for a <a href="http://www.windup-battery.com/battery-charger/top-5-eco-energy-battery-chargers" target="_blank">kinetic charger</a>. There are some which are powered by a hand crank and others powered by a battery that is charged by a sensor <a href="https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/fitness/power-music-player-with-running-shoes.htm" target="_blank">in your trainers</a> as you run. These are just some of the examples of products already available, but a wider variety of devices will soon hit the market that will help charge all of your most important devices – from your phone to your computer and most devices in between.</p><p>But aside from the obvious solutions, there are a handful of other technologies to take advantage of. One of my favourites is the self-charging floor, a technology that is already at work in Las Vegas, <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/14/las-vegas-kinetic-solar-streetlights/" target="_blank">lighting up a handful of 'the strips' streets</a>. But imagine applying this technology to your office space where workers are constantly walking back and forth between their desks and meeting rooms. One company, called <a href="https://energy-floors.com/the-walker/" target="_blank">Energy Floors</a>, is hoping to achieve just that and are beginning to design kinetic installations for spaces of all sizes.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cba6580bf8c5406e1268264b4de842a6"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lHnuH_gUcRw?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>Of course, businesses are not going to switch to 100 per cent kinetic energy soon, but products such as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flywheel_energy_storage" target="_blank">Flywheel Batteries</a> will help businesses create and store kinetic energy locally. Flywheel storage facilities make use of a flywheel system that constantly accelerates and decelerates a rotor in order to store kinetic energy. </p>
How will the future with kinetic energy look like?
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkwNDA2MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMDI2Mjk4M30.GsIbIDPzf79FxAs6H-fxl9j_oyRko8xKjUs2EC39VxQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="18b03" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0f60221e4beba8535a139c1f0eea8cca" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Nita - Pexels.com
<p>There are also a handful of start-ups harnessing energy in different and unique ways. <a href="http://www.kps.energy/" target="_blank">Kite Power Systems</a> is looking to harness the power of kites by floating them high up in the sky where there are far more power wind speeds. The movement of the kites in the wind turns a turbine which, in turn (pun totally intended), generates clean energy. <a href="http://americanwindinc.com/our-products-3/microcube/" target="_blank">American Wind</a> has invented the world's smallest wind turbine – one that can generate almost 1,000 times more than a solar panel. That's quite impressive for something no bigger than a 30 cm cube.</p><p>Finally, there is <a href="https://constructisllc.com/" target="_blank">Constructis</a>, an innovative new energy start-up that wants to use its technology to collect kinetic energy from every vehicle on the road by capturing energy as they drive over it. Think of it as an energy harvesting speed bump.</p><p>When it all comes down to it, we all have a responsibility to do more to change how we source and consume energy so that we become less reliant on less green energy solutions. There is no doubt that we are only at the start of the journey towards to a kinetically powered future, but when we get there I have a feeling it will be a very bright future. </p>From Your Site Articles
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Create Tomorrow
How green is green technology?
Green technologies are often seen as solutions to save our environment. But have you ever heard of their rebound effects?
Imagine an entire country enacts a law that requires the use of a more energy-efficient LED lightbulbs. Sounds good right? But what if I told you that in every country this law has been passed energy consumption went up?
The reason why could be a bit of a mystery, but it's exactly why using green technology to solve problems can be incredibly difficult. It all boils down to two main reasons: The first is that a lot of what we consider to be the sustainable option, is only sustainable if a product is used in a certain way. The second is that people's behavioral changes that come from introducing new technology are hard to predict. That's what we call "rebound effects". But what does that mean?
Like many people today, you might feel guilty about going to your favorite café because every time you buy a coffee, it comes in a disposable plastic cup that you know will somehow, someway, end up in a landfill and slowly make its way into the ocean where it may sit for decades or even centuries. What do you do? The easy answer for many of us is to purchase a reusable coffee mug that we take with us every day to fill up our coffee. <em>Voila! </em>You've circumvented the need for a single-use paper cup with a plastic lid. The purchase feels good knowing that we've done our small part to help save the planet. Problem solved… right?<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMTE0MDQ4My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMTk5ODk4MH0.1LqulCC5s_zTTQ2CXELMY4P4uPNRF9LO0ldmUQJxreA/img.jpg?width=980" id="2c319" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c4e504bda50efe76b0cc70b9a1e3f5fe" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">A Woman Holding A Takeout Coffee</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
Getty Images
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</p><p>But is any of this really true- that a reusable mug is "greener" than a disposable cup? As it turns out, it depends on how you use your reusable coffee container. This is because, in part, it requires more CO<sub>2</sub> emissions to produce than a disposable cup. Just to make up for emissions, it might need to be used up to 100 times in order to balance the emissions of a disposable cup. And it gets even trickier: "Sustainability" doesn't just mean reducing CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, right?<br/></p><p>All the materials that combined make up everything we buy come at an environmental cost. If we take into account the materials used in a reusable coffee mug, the water it takes to wash it after each use, the soap and more - it may take over a thousand uses compared to a disposable mug to balance the overall environmental impacts. If you're anything like me and you tend to lose reusable mugs every now and then, this really calls into question whether it's an environmentally friendly purchase.</p><p>Nowadays, this is why researchers are trying to understand the <em>lifecycle</em> of products - the environmental impacts starting from the extraction of materials from the Earth, through manufacturing, to the transportation to stores - all for increased understanding of the conditions under which a product might actually be considered "sustainable". </p><p>The second, even more tricky issue, is that day-to-day human behavior may change when we exposed people to a new piece of technology. Going back to the coffee mug, for example, a consumer may drink 50% more coffee, simply because the volume of the mug is larger compared to a single-use cup. At first, it may seem like a small change, but on a large scale, an increase in coffee demand, simply from using a bigger mug, could easily lead to a huge number of unintended consequences: Increased coffee demand, for example, has long been linked to <a href="https://www.hrnstiftung.org/coffee-and-deforestation/" target="_blank">deforestation</a> and <a href="http://theconversation.com/the-dark-side-of-coffee-an-unequal-social-and-environmental-exchange-46838" target="_blank">economic inequality</a>. These types of changes are known as <strong>direct rebound effects</strong>. </p><p>On the other side of that same coin are indirect rebound effects. Indirect rebound effects are even more difficult to quantify, and there can be many of them associated with a single new product or technology. In our coffee cup scenario, it could be that with your new purchase you start drinking more milk with your coffee - another driver of deforestation. It might mean you make more frequent trips to a café and increase your time driving which increases your annual CO2 emissions. You might start purchasing more snacks alongside each new coffee, increasing your net consumption of goods that were likely imported from all over the world. As you can imagine, those indirect rebound effects are extremely hard to track and basically impossible to predict in advance.</p><p>It's amazing that even the example of the reusable coffee mug above can have so many unintended consequences on a global scale. It's also important to note that these may be particularly prevalent in technological products that are individually owned, rather than something that is publicly owned. This is exactly why the problem gets even more precarious with initiatives like promoting an entire rehaul of the transportation system by electric vehicles (EV). Other options like making public transit and biking more accessible is more likely to have a net positive effect since both are options that are less materially intensive than an EV.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMTE0MDUwMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjMzMzY3OX0.6bEItApuS5qhLeRkKNwtAZj-hr7ZlNi2SjiYWYNQYLA/img.jpg?width=980" id="9e8d3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b97ea5e01c5f97d1a272d565d54ba09f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Electric car charging.</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
Getty Images
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</p><p>The lifecycle<em> </em>of electric vehicles already requires rare earth metals that are more environmentally destructive than a comparable fossil-fuel-powered vehicle when being mined. In many places, they also have thin margins in terms of how much they actually reduce emissions compared to fossil-fuel-powered vehicles. This gets tricky because when people buy an EV, their behavior may change. In their excitement of driving a new, "sustainable" vehicle, they may end up driving it more often and actually emitting more carbon dioxide than the average diesel-powered vehicle - a direct rebound effect commonly associated with electric cars. Electric vehicle owners may also make other decisions differently: to use less public transport, car share less with others, or to use the tax rebate issued to promote electric cars (such as in California) to buy other products that, in the end, all contribute to increased emissions and environmental destruction. Of course, none of this means we should keep using huge amounts of fossil fuels in the face of climate change- it just means that the solutions to these problems may be even more difficult than we initially expected.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMTE0MDUwNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMTAwNjk5MX0.p_5DmSJsKv8fINhi9GYiEaQmBerIW6EbjgrkH-pOBYw/img.jpg?width=980" id="4968c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ef7505a5fd428934f9155bad2bdd9e6c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Pollution</small>
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</p><p>While the idea of rebound effects applies most commonly to topics related to energy use, it's conceptual framework can apply to almost any new integrated technology or product. As of now, all that researchers and policy-makers can do is monitor the impacts in the aftermath of introducing new "green" technology. In the face of these rebound effects, more and more people have been asking themselves whether or not the current technological solutions to climate change are the way to go, especially for individually owned products. Given the urgency of climate change mitigation, the environmental destruction many types of green technology causes because of their <em>lifecycle </em>is precarious. Added is the uncertainty of how rebound effects might actually reduce emissions benefits of EVs in the real world compared to theory. And, in the end, it's why we can mysteriously advocate for energy-efficient lightbulbs and see energy consumption go up. Sometimes, "green" energy may be anything but.<br/></p><p><strong>Related articles:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2011/feb/22/rebound-effect-climate-change" target="_blank">The Guardian - Could the rebound effect undermine climate efforts?</a></p><p><a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/07/do-fuel-efficient-cars-make-us-drive-more/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">World Economic Forum - Do fuel-efficient cars make us drive more?</a></p>
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