Personal Power: Energy Device Feeds From Human Movement

"This is a way for people to make their own clean energy and power their devices at the same time," explains Aaron Lemieux--Cleveland area entrepreneur turned inventor.

In 1996, while on a backpack trip along the Appalachian Trail, Lemieux came up with the idea for a personal energy generator that plays off of human kinetic energy.

14 years later, he launched the nPower Peg.

"[The nPower Peg] is a device that really doesn't require any thought on the user's behalf. [You] just place it in your backpack, briefcase or purse. You do your thing, it does its thing, and when you need to recharge your cell phone, you have power standing by ready to go," Lemieux says.

The peg works with a standard USB cord and Tremont Electric sells dozens of converters that can connect the peg to 90 percent of hand-held devices currently on the market.

The real key is motion.

Every minute the user moves, provides a minute of energy for charging a phone, laptop, or iPod.

But at Sunday's Taste of Tremont, the peg was generating more than energy.

"We had over 2700 preorders for this device and 25 percent of those came from outside of the U.S.," Lemieux says.