Micro energy harvesting: Overview
Power from footsteps, body heat, radio waves and damp air
What this tile covers Devices that gather tiny amounts of power from motion, heat, friction, radio waves or humidity. Share of use 0% share of world energy supply (2024)Share of world total energy supply captured or extracted by each method, 2024 (latest year where noted). Denominator is the Energy Institute Statistical Review 2025 total of 592.2 EJ (physical energy content method); electricity from wind, solar, hydro and geothermal is counted at output, nuclear at reactor heat. Heat and biomass flows outside EI's total are set against the same 592.2 EJ. Harvesters power sensors at microwatt to watt scale (radioisotope generators about 100 W), so the global total rounds to zero. Source: Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) fact sheet, NASA.
Key facts
| Output | Small amounts of electricity |
Included from the reference tables
- Piezoelectric harvesting (footsteps, vibration, traffic)
- Thermoelectric generators
- Pyroelectric, triboelectric and RF harvesters
- Humidity-based generators
- RTGs and betavoltaic cells
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More on this tile in the tabs above: efficiency, techniques, resources and labour, impact on the biosphere.