A mechanic, a taxi driver and a mini ark…

A green-tech “Mini Ark” has been developed by a taxi driver and mechanic who are displaying their invention at the Fieldays Innovation Centre this week.

Taxi driver Allan Boysen and mechanic Johnny Davis have developed a highly portable unit that utilises stream or river flow to convert hydro energy into electricity.

“It sits in the river, you anchor it, it’s a type of boat that floats. The flow of the river will turn the paddles and the paddles generate 2,000 rpm that will run an alternator. That alternator, like your car alternator, will power your battery,” Boysen said.

The battery then produces a consistent flow of electricity that has a large variety of applications, including powering electric 12 volt devices and appliances, including electric fences.

Boysen said it would be perfect for crisis situations, particularly floods.

The catalyst for the idea came after watching a documentary about tribal people living along the Amazon River.

“Johnny and I sat down one day and tried to come up with where we could get an unlimited [energy] resource, and we thought the rivers could provide this. It sat around in our heads until we could finance it. It took about a year to make it all up and a quick month to get it to Fieldays,” said Boysen.

Timaru sheep and beef farmer Owen Batt said: “I’ve tried making them myself, but most of the creeks that I’ve been in don’t have the flow. Even with water wheels, we still need a huge amount of water to get the sort of power that we require. I like this [the Mini Ark]. This floats. The challenge is to make something run efficiently in low water conditions.

“I think there’s still a lot of room for people working on the water [energy] generation side of things. There’s a lot of areas that can still be improved on. There’s got to be systems like this, simple systems. I like the double paddles as well. It’s double the horse power with the two sides.”

Boysen and Davis had quite an adventure as they drove to Fieldays at 5.30am on Wednesday with their Mini Ark prototype.

Boysen said: “We came from Paeroa. The weather had come in, the fog had come in, the sleet, the rain, and with visibility down to a metre. We ended up going over a roundabout, flying in mid-air with a trailer for about two seconds. But it was too late. We looked behind and there was nothing on the trailer. It had fallen off. We went out and collected it all in pieces, and this is the result.

“It was just crazy, but we made it. We literally got rubber bands to put it together. But it’s here, and people can see for themselves that there’s something here. Our hope is someone might recognise the potential in it. We hope that investor comes by and can rescue us from our dilemma at the moment.”