I know it's not a new invention and most of us know how it works to act as transducer between air pressure (ie sound waves) and current. But the idea behind it is always to capture intelligible sound. The idea that I propose is based on the same scheme as microphone but for the purpose of generating electricity. We can think of huge or array of microphones installed near noisy or windy places to perform like windmill but at very low cost.

I moved to the city a couple of years ago, and have noticed how clean the roofs always are. No leafs get up there. Further, from every roof there runs a pipe all the way along the edges of the roof, and to the ground in order to make the rain that ends on the roof go to the ground without pouring down on the windows. My idea is simply to put a little mill inside the pipes that go from the roof to the ground, the mill should run a simple generator in order to produce power. - Since the...

Many Europen nations have a surplus of electricity generating capacity. A cable laid across the Straits of Gibralter would enable electricity to be transmitted & sold to African nations which were connected up to a common electricity grid. The funding for such a cable (and the transmission grid) could come from a European sponsored 'Marshall Aid' type plan for Africa. This would further economic development in Africa and ease immigration pressures on Europe simultaneously. A classic...

Here is my idea in very rough form! Go out to the ocean where it is approx 1 mile deep (but this might work also in a deep lake where it is only 500 feet deep) and put down a metal pipe maybe 30 ft in diameter (also consider only 5' diameter). Pump the water out of it and every 300 to 500 feet have a turbine in the pipe which generates electricity. Let water fall down through the pipe until it gets to the bottom where (and this is either the strength or weakness of my idea)... 1- it...

Just back from a conference where I saw a demonstration of a software simulator used in a negotiation among the institutional leaders of a city, a group of farmers and companies delivering water to the city. The negociation was about water beeing polluted by pesticides used by the farmers. I found the software very useful to elaborate scenarios consequent to the behavior of the different parties and to get the consensous of the parties on a certain scenario. Such a software could be...

This idea sort of falls under environment, but I bet more people would look at it here, so here she goes. Busses travel in most cities for at least 15 hours of the day. During that time the bus may cover up to 300km. A filter placed on the roof of the bus would see a fair amount of air in one of those days. For example, if the dimensions of the filter were 2.5 x .5 meters then in the course of the day one bus could filter approximately 250,000 cubic meters of air. Filters could be...

The most efficient means of heating a house is by using geothermal heat pumps. Check the link below: http://www.eere.energy.gov/RE/geo_heat_pumps.html. The air going into your house runs through an underground tube, and becomes warmer. I.E. less energy required to get the air warmer. Heat pumps are kind of expensive to build, and it takes about 5 years for the energy savings to pay for the initial cost. Most people move within 5 years so the incentive isn't there to install them....

The problem to be solved: There are a lot of places where people are supposed not to smoke, e.g. public transportation, McDonalds, cinemas, shopping malls, public toilets, etc. However, there are always smokers they are nuts and do not respect other people's right at all. They simply ignore the rules and keep smoking. For the time being, there is not much we (people don't like passive smoking or don't like the smell) can do. These few culprits smokers can also cause a lot of damages, e.g....

For some time we have had the ability to manufacture huge lenses. We also have computers and software that could make this idea happen. For a prototype, why not construct a large glass lens maybe 12 feet in diameter. Mount it about 30-50 feet above the ground. The base would be round and by computer be able to move round and up and down; tracking the sun 365 days of the year. The intense heat created by this large magnifying glass could be focused on some hybrid turbine and or steam...

We are worried about soil erosion filling our water dams with soil, leaving us with no more water in them and loss of rich soil from higher areas. So what if it is possible to build a dam or small dams near the place where soil erosion is taking place? It may stop the soil where it belongs and not fill our water dams. PS. If u happen to know any Dam Builders please inform them about this idea on this website.