As the recent events in Venezuela have shown, as well as similar events around the world, in the event of one or another, destroying the economy of the situation, the first problem faced by the population will be the lack of electricity. Therefore, the extraction of energy is as important an element of survival as the extraction of water and food.
Each prepper prepares his shelter for the Apocalypse in a completely different way, but more often than not, people suggest using solar panels in one way or another. Probably, solar power plants in Venezuela and Africa are great and good, but what about cold and snowy Russia? And what to do in general if black volcanic snow falls from the sky, which will go and go, go and go - days, weeks and months in flight, around the clock?
Fortunately, it looks like researchers at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) were able to solve this problem a little.
The University of California at Los Angeles has previously distinguished itself with original views on methods of producing energy, creating devices for obtaining it from rain drops flowing down the roof, from the soles of boots that bend when walking and the fabric of jeans rubbing against objects. However, today UCLA has gone even further and decided to extract energy from snow.
The device is based on the so-called triboelectric effect - an experiment known to all schoolchildren with wool and amber sticks. But only snow is used as wool, which gives up electrons and acquires an excess positive charge, and silicone is used as amber, which, when snow falls, captures its electrons, creating electricity.
Naturally, since it is impossible to get a lot of current from a simple sheet of silicone, the coating for the electrical panel is made on a 3D printer using special nanotechnology, as a result of which the device itself was named a triboelectric nanogenerator.
At the moment, the output of electricity from the generator is relatively small, but this problem is easily compensated for by its eternity, cheapness and, as a consequence, a possible huge area. Therefore, given that 30% of the planet is always covered with layers of snow, researchers see a great future for their device.
Promotional video:
Unfortunately, the work of the device with volcanic ash has not yet been tested by researchers, however, judging by the table of electron binding energies, glass panels and sulfur falling from the sky are generally excellent prospects.