EN-Tread

Climate change due to the “Enhanced Greenhouse Effect” is considered a major threat to the environment. It is projected that global greenhouse gas emissions will increase by 21.9 % within 2050. We created a novel energy harvesting technology to solve a greater crisis globally. Our solution is a new approach to generate off-grid electricity from vertical ground force reactions generated from walking and vehicles. The generated energy can be connected to national grids as renewable green energy. We believe our solution can positively change the day-to-day lives of people around the world. Our mechanism has the potential to generate 4-joule energy per step from an average person weighing 800-newton while walking. We are offering an innovative solution that can generate energy from not just pedestrians even vehicles. The setup is more sustainable and cheaper than other existing solutions.

The energy sector is key to mitigating global climate change, greenhouse gas emissions and preserve the ecosystem. The global energy demand has increased by 5.2 gigajoules per capita from 2009 to 2019 thus increase in demand raised carbon dioxide emission by 4423.8 million tons in ten years. It is projected that global greenhouse gas emissions will increase by 21.9 % within 2050. Increased heat, drought, and insect outbreaks, all linked to climate change have increased wildfires. Declining water supplies, reduced agricultural yields, health impacts in cities due to heat, and flooding and erosion in coastal areas are additional concerns. Eventually, the whole global population is affected by climate change and greenhouse emissions. Governments have realized that renewable energy and energy efficiency is the most feasible direction to meet climate objectives now. In 2015 only 0.268% of total electricity production was generated through renewables in Bangladesh. To address this issue we developed a solution to generate off-grid renewable electricity from locomotion to solve a global crisis and improve communities. 

Our solution is a novel energy harvesting paver system that uses fluid mechanics to generate electricity from footsteps. The design concept of our mechanism intends to utilize the vertical force generated by walking or running and vehicle movement converting the force into electrical energy using principles of fluid mechanics. The system creates a water jet using a syringe. The power of the water jet is converted into electrical energy using a Pelton wheel impulse turbine. Most importantly a single impulse turbine generator can be used in multiple pavers to cut the cost significantly without any significant change in the energy output.

Using our technology, we can generate electricity in crowded areas. The generated energy can be integrated to national grids. Countries with high population density can highly benefit from this solution. Most importantly we are willing to install this system on roads to generate electricity from vehicles. With a microgrid system to make the energy distribution easier.

Bangladesh ranked seventh in the list of countries most affected by climate calamities during the period 1999–2018. We are operating to serve the urban and pre-urban communities of Bangladesh. The people we are willing to serve are those who are directly affected by greenhouse emissions and air pollution.

In 2015, 98.8% energy production of Bangladesh was from coal, gas, and oil sources. We are developing our product in order to partner with industries and the government to generate off-grid energy. We want to provide affordable access to clean energy to decrease the use of the traditional local sources of energy (coal, oil, gas) and improve the existing energy infrastructure through our technology.

The key resource for our technology to work is people. We are engaging people physically to build a smarter city with nothing but their day-to-day activities.

The aim of our solution is to establish a renewable, clean energy harvesting system. "Enhanced Greenhouse Emission" has become a global threat contributing to the adverse effects of climate change and environmental pollution. The energy sector contributes around 40% of global CO2 emissions. As renewable and green energy systems are the most feasible way to meet climate objectives. Our solution directly contributes to preserving the carbon-based ecosystem. The only most feasible way to preserve and restore the ecosystem is to lean towards renewable energy harvesting systems.

We developed a design, ran some mathematical analysis, modeling, simulations and practical experiments. The only reason we chose concept as our development stage because we haven't tested our prototype in any community yet. We are currently working towards that goal.

Energy generation from human locomotion is not a new Idea. There are lots of novel processes that generate energy from footsteps and other locomotion. Most of the works in this field generate very low amounts of energy. However, there are some methods that generate energy around 2 Joules per step. To address this, we needed to innovate and develop a new design. Our novel mechanism can generate up to 4.4 joules per step while walking.

PAVEGEN is currently our one and only competitor. Their product can generate energy over 4 joules per step. Each of their paver tiles uses multiple technologies at once to acquire that amount of energy per step.

That's where our solution comes in handy. The cost structure of our solution is mostly cost-driven. We are focused on cutting the cost of the system compared to our competitor. Most importantly we are providing a renewable energy harvesting system at a lower cost to make the system more feasible for every customer globally without any significant change in energy output. The significant change in the cost will definitely change the market and enable broader positive impacts.

Compared to other renewable solutions existing in the market. We are trying to create a positive impact through people's engagement and their random activities.

Now: We are currently developing our product for better and improved implications in Bangladesh. We are not serving any community around this time.

Next Year: Within one year from now we will be operating at 4 crowded major locations of Dhaka city. We are aiming to serve a minimum of 100,000 people directly and indirectly within the next year.

Within Five Years: In five years we are aiming to collaborate with major industries in Bangladesh and India. Our target population is to serve a minimum of 1 Million people combined in both countries.

Our progress toward impact goals will be measured by the following steps.

• Generated Energy: We will be measuring the amount of energy we generate per location.
• Usage: We will be tracking the use of technologies powered by our mechanism like drinking water fountains to ensure it's success and trust.
• Survey: We will run some public surveys regarding our technology and its visible benefits in day to day life of citizens and underprivileged people.

Now: 5 people work for Full time staff.

Our team consists of undergraduate students from the Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Department of Architecture, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Each of the members has exceptional skills related to designing, development, environmental impact analysis, mathematical analysis, simulations and business modelling. We have managed different programs snd projects that required these skills and managed to hone them better each time. We believe we are perfect for pitching our idea in MIT Solve.

EN-Tread believes a perfect team consists of people of different genders, ethnicity and different viewpoints. Our team focuses on working with people of different backgrounds. The solution of our makes sure that people of every background can physically engage themselves in building a better community. Our team consists of members from different ethnicity. We are assisting each other with our different perspectives.

Within this century,  we are going to face some of the biggest challenges regarding climate and environmental issues. The impacts are already visible. As young students and entrepreneurs, we want to have positive impacts on people's lives. MitSolve is a global platform giving us the opportunity to shine and develop solutions for global challenges. This is a great opportunity for us to improve, improvise and build a better community.

We want to collaborate with many organizations and new partners in the future. We are willing to build a relationship with our partners from which both parties benefit from each other. We are hoping to partner with those who have knowledge of the sector and an understanding of the technology and the market. We require mentorship and advice. We appreciate ideas and ways to expand our work to find new ways to implement our technology with the partner's technology. With our partners, we hope to build a relationship of integrity and respect. So that we can provide the best for our communities and benefit the lives of people of different backgrounds

We are open to collaboration and assistance.

SOLshare (solver): We want to collaborate with SOLshare to develop our product and its implementation.

EN-Tread is developing a solution to generate clean energy. The generated energy can be applied in street lighting, CCTV, drinking water fountains, watering the roadside plants, etc. With a novel mechanism and a microgrid system to integrate energy with the national grid, our solution can utilize the vertical reactions of not only pedestrians but also vehicles for its durability. Our solution uses the primary component of a city: PEOPLES. We are engaging people just through their daily activities to build a sustainable and better community and cities. A solution that can be implemented in schools, industries, streets with an opportunity for community engagement will create a positive impact on how citizens think and act. 

EN-Tread is a solution meant for everyone regardless of gender. Our aim is to engage people of any gender to build a better and smarter city. EN_Tread can utilize the vertical reactions of not only pedestrians but also vehicles for its durability. It can be implemented in schools, industries, streets. We believe it is an opportunity for women to physically participate in community development through their daily way of life. All-female schools, workplaces our solution is going to build a safer, smarter city for women. The off-grid energy can power up street lights, CCTV with women physically engaging to generate that energy. 

EN-Tread currently focuses on tackling greenhouse emissions in Bangladesh. Around 98.8% of energy is generated using non-renewable sources in our country. We are eager to reduce the usage of non-renewable sources by implementing our technology and community engagement.