What mountaineering activity uses the most energy?

[Bill Slugg]

When you take a step, your body falls forward, your center of gravity drops down, you put a foot out in front, touch the ground, and exert a force over a given amount of time as you move your center of gravity back up. If you exert less force, or divert some of the force to a generator, then your body's center of gravity will not return, and you will eventually end up on the ground.

 

On level ground or uphill travel there is no unused energy to be leveraged. (Other than waste heat). When you are going downhill, there is ample opportunity to generate electricity. You could put a generator in each shoe. You could mount a generator in a pogo stick device.

 

The ideal device would clip to your shoe when going downhill, serve as a generator/descendeur, and while you slept it would clip to your tent and generate electricity from the wind.

[Kat_Roslyn]

You could use the new tether technology they are implementing in space. The rope, a metal tether with some object either at the end or in the middle; each time it whips, the energy goes to the generator at the end to harness the energy. The energy being stored is used to propel whatever type of probe through space. The tethers they are started to use in space are made extremely strong now because of debris hitting the tether.

I think there was an issue of a tether being broken and burned through because the energy being produced was a lot stronger than expected or something like that when some astronauts were testing.

There are also tethers being used that gather electrons from the earth's atmoshpere, I haven't quite figured that out yet.

[G-spotter]

When you take a step, your body falls forward, your center of gravity drops down, you put a foot out in front, touch the ground, and exert a force over a given amount of time as you move your center of gravity back up. If you exert less force, or divert some of the force to a generator, then your body's center of gravity will not return, and you will eventually end up on the ground.

 

This displays such a basic misunderstanding of physics that I am boggled.

[bstach]

The ideal device would clip to your shoe when going downhill

 

By the time you are back at your car, you GPS battery should be re-charged.

[Choada_Boy]

A tall metal rod could be used to collect electricity during bad weather.

[billbob]

Various ideas from a wasted break-time at work:

 

Little paddles at the back of skis could turn mini-generators, preferably with various types of paddles to suit conditions, more preferably wherein the generator load could be varied to the slope angle or disconnected when skinning uphill. In another example of the invention, a propellor could be mounted to the head of the skier to generate additional current. Wires from the generator would be attached to various sensitive body parts to generate muscle spasms to assist skier in attaining ultimate syle. Finally, a small turbine could be mounted at the anal orifice of skier, whereby said anal generator could be powered by typical climber foodstuffs or said skier could simply hold open their mouth while traveling downhill at speed, allowing free air passage through the intestinal passage and effectively funneling large quantities of air by virtue of the over-developed mouth on many skiers. Hope this helps!

[Bill Slugg]

G-spotter

Can you explain where I have gone wrong? Walking is basically a controlled fall. You fall forward, put your foot out, lift yourself up. Repeat with the other foot.

 

"The process of walking involves moving the center of gravity up and down..." here

 

Edited April 18, 2007 by Bill Slugg

[G-spotter]

It's pretty simple. Think about those kiddy shoes that have blinking LEDs. Most of those are powered by the energy of walking. (There are some that use battery but most are piezoelectric). The kids that wear them don't fall over, even when climbing a hill.

 

You assume that to generate storable energy, 1) extra energy will have to be generated and 2) walker won't be able to compensate for it. Both assumptions are wrong. Firstly, the energy used to charge the device can be deducted from the proportion dissipated as heat (making walking technically more efficient) without requiring additional energy. Secondly, if efficiency is not increased, it is possible for walker to adjust output to compensate, rather than to fall over. Not any different than walking up a hill unloaded, and then walking up the same hill with a 30 lb. pack on. The centre of gravity is different with pack, the walker uses more energy, but does not become unstable and fall over as per your somewhat ridiculous assertion.

[Bill Slugg]

G-spotter

You took me too seriously! Of course you are not going to fall over. You are going to compensate. If somebody straps a generator to your foot, or puts a rock in your pack, you have only two choices. You can up your energy output or you can fall over.

The original poster was implying that he could get mechanical energy out of his walking uphill without having to exert more effort. I was showing where he was wrong. Second law of thermodynamics. Omnipresent, immutable, inviolable.

 

I agree you can get storable energy from dissipated heat. See my first post.

[G-spotter]

You can also get more efficient, waste less energy, and dissipate less heat without increasing output though. That's how a lot of the devices similar to what ambys is proposing, that are already on the market, work.

 

Google "viridian design" for more info.

[Bill Slugg]

Yes, I understand. Viridian design leverages cutting edge concepts to reduce wear and tear on the planet. Good stuff.

 

As long as no one is proposing an end run around the second law, I am happy.

[archenemy]

When you take a step, your body falls forward, your center of gravity drops down, you put a foot out in front, touch the ground, and exert a force over a given amount of time as you move your center of gravity back up. If you exert less force, or divert some of the force to a generator, then your body's center of gravity will not return, and you will eventually end up on the ground.

 

This displays such a basic misunderstanding of physics that I am boggled.

[kevbone]

lust

 

fix climber to one end of cord attached to dynamo, with sheep at a distance

 

as climber progresses towards sheep, pulling cord, cord rotates drum and generates electricity

 

some of electricity can be used to move sheep further away from climber, resulting in perpetual motion.

 

 

Hey hypocrite. Remember, keep spray in spray. I know this is a very difficult task for you….but you can do it.

[Drederek]

Slightly off topic but I use a lot of energy training on the treadmill and I've always wondered why they are sucking energy out of the wall instead of pumping it back in. My club is so cheap I can't believe they are not selling all the energy wasted there. What about an oldtime wristwatch type generator with a removable rechargeable battery for each wrist?

[Clavote]

Sex at altitude. Definitely.

 

 

[olyclimber]

You could use the new tether technology they are implementing in space. The rope, a metal tether with some object either at the end or in the middle; each time it whips, the energy goes to the generator at the end to harness the energy. The energy being stored is used to propel whatever type of probe through space. The tethers they are started to use in space are made extremely strong now because of debris hitting the tether.

I think there was an issue of a tether being broken and burned through because the energy being produced was a lot stronger than expected or something like that when some astronauts were testing.

There are also tethers being used that gather electrons from the earth's atmoshpere, I haven't quite figured that out yet.

 

Maybe use space elevator technology. By tethering yourself to the space station, you can use the solar panel which are gathering energy out in space to charge up your ipod and flashlight batteries.

[Dechristo]

the inordinate amount of energy expended in trying to booty stuck cams

[Bill_Simpkins]

Any extra calories used to make up for the work to power something or carry the weight will have to be made up when the hiker returns anyways. The energy required to make that food may be more than the energy gained by carrying the thing up there.

I say just get a generator and hire a bum to turn the crank.It would be a better use of the time.

This act of trying to create energy from manpower might actually be worse for the environment as it contributes more to entropy and the heat death of the Universe. Do you really want to be responsible for destroying the universe?

I think not

[G-spotter]

Mr. Simpkins, the heat death of the universe is a fallacy.

 

Because the universe is expanding, it is actually cooling, not heating. It was hottest at the Big Bang and has now cooled to the temperature of the microwave background.

[Mr_Phil]

His last words were "I think not."

[G-spotter]

Last words? :o OMG BILL IS DEAD?????!!!

[Choada_Boy]

Mr. Simpkins, the heat death of the universe is a fallacy.

 

Because the universe is expanding, it is actually cooling, not heating. It was hottest at the Big Bang and has now cooled to the temperature of the microwave background.

 

This displays such a basic misunderstanding of physics that I am boggled.

[olyclimber]

The sun is the hottiest planet in the solar system, and if you were to touch it would burn you.

[tvashtarkatena]

Why does my head weigh 1000 lbs when I first wake up in the morning, but become an empty vessel when faced with a route-finding challenge?