Power Generation Unit Using Biomimetic Design Undergoes In-Stream Field Testing

Copyright Ask Nature Japan

On March 28, 2013, Ask Nature Japan, a nonprofit organization (NPO), in collaboration with Professor Yoshitaka Nakanishi and a team of researchers at the Graduate School of Kumamoto University, conducted an open demonstration test of a prototype river-stream power generation unit outfitted with a "Bio-Star" series system. Nakanishi and his team developed the system under a grant from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), and now the team and Ask Nature Japan are calling for industrial and academic sector partners to join in collaborative research to commercialize the unit.

The Bio-Star series is an innovative power generation system with outstanding performance and functionality compared to conventional systems, achieved by mimicking the superior bearing system of articular cartilages found in nature and adopting a micro- and cluster-type design. This system shows the potential use of this technology in new energy source.

Ask Nature Japan is located in Shiga Prefecture, in the easternmost part of the Kansai region, which is the second largest economic zone of Japan. The NPO is engaged in promoting the application of specific aspects of organisms' properties for use in industrial technologies. It regards nature not as a treasure trove of "resources" that people consume, but as a treasure trove of "wisdom." From this perspective, by using biomimetic technologies (those that use the structure and function of biological systems as models for the design and engineering of materials and machines), the NPO aims to help build a society based on the wisdom of nature and the effective application of biological properties. By telling the world about its activities, the NPO also hopes to bring about innovations toward a new society using the concept of learning from nature.

Related JFS article:
Demonstration Test of Tidal Power Generation Using Biomimetics Conducted by Kumamoto University
Technologies to Save the Earth -- Learning from Nature (Part 1)
Technologies to Save the Earth -- Learning from Nature (Part 2)