Philonoist.net

Good news from the land of Kamen (as in Dean Kamen): Two devices, one that creates power from any burnable source, and one that decontaminates water. The electric generator is powered by an easily-obtained local fuel: cow dung. Each machine continuously outputs a kilowatt of electricity. That may not sound like much, but it is enough to light 70 energy-efficient bulbs. As Kamen puts it, “If you judiciously use a kilowatt, each villager can have a nighttime.”

The Slingshot works by taking in contaminated water – even raw sewage — and separating out the clean water by vaporizing it. It then shoots the remaining sludge back out a plastic tube. Kamen thinks it could be paired with the power machine and run off the other machine’s waste heat.

Naturally, it’s good stuff like this that made me want to be an engineer. And for Kamen, it makes up for that pesky Segway.

Technorati Tags: power, water, engineering, Dean Kamen