You’re gathering up gear for a backpacking trip, and you’re about to leave when you realize you forgot something — your hydroelectric generator backpack. This could potentially be the way of the future, if the Bourne Energy Backpack Power Plant takes off as planned.

The idea behind the portable hydroelectric generator is to provide highly portable, clean energy, in order to help bring renewable energy to developing nations, and even the army. In fact, the California-based company, Bourne Energy, has two versions of its generator pack: one specifically designed for civilian use and another for the military.

Of course, here at Wend, we like the idea that a hydro generator backpack could provide campers, hikers and backpackers with energy on long trips out. The Backpack Power Plant would be able create clean power from a stream just four feet deep, providing anyone outdoors with clean energy no matter how far out they may be. To install and operate the BPP, all you would need to do is dig two holes on opposite sides of a stream and insert a lightweight “anchor” of sorts into each. Then, you simply string a rope between the anchors and through the BPP, which then produces energy from the water running through it.

Ultimately, although the BPP wasn’t necessarily designed with backpackers in mind, it could provide grounds for new developments in the area of renewable energy on the go. And who knows, the next time you’re trekking a trail, you might just see someone harvesting energy from a nearby stream… some day.

[Via: Wired]

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