Researchers of the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the US have discovered a device that could tap the energy lying in the thin air around us for powering telephones or other electronic items.

The technique or device can be used even to power wireless sensors, microprocessors and communications chips by harnessing energy in the thin air around us. The researchers named the process as ‘energy scavenging’ and the devices can be stored even in places like our shoes.

“Till date, no one has been able to tap the electromagnetic energy moving around us in any way. This can be used successfully when a battery or a solar-collector or battery package failed completely,” said Manos Tentzeris, professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

He said his team has used this technology successfully on many an occasion. “Only last week, we had managed to gather enough energy from a TV station a half-km away to power a small temperature sensor,” Manos Tentzeris said, adding that the device could provide up to 50 mille watts of power when it’s combined with advanced capacitor technology.

The device works on the simple technique of the electromagnetic energy being converted from AC to DC.

{besps}stories/slideshow/energy{/besps}