Shoppers rejoice: by going out to your favourite mall, you may actually be helping to generate environmentally friendly electricity!
Shoppers rejoice: by going out to your favourite mall, you may actually be helping to generate environmentally friendly electricity!
Back in 2010 I wrote about an emerging technology to produce environmentally friendly electricity, powered literally by pedestrians who walk on specially adapted floors tiles. The concept is simple: you step on a floor panel when walking, the panel flex slightly, and captures wasted kinetic energy to electricity.
It would be a boon for owners with properties where thousands, if not millions of people pass everyday. Shopping malls, train stations and public spaces could all help to not only lower their own electricity bills, but also to contribute back to the national grid.
While projects in Japan have only been small tests, it seems that in England Westfield Stratford Shopping Centre will have the distinction of being the first commercial roll-out of such technology by British company Pavegen, with further installations coming along in the lead up to the 2012 London Olympics.
Even the production itself is environmentally friendly: the rubber material used to produce these pads are also derived from recycled tyres and other reclaimed materials.
It's quite refreshing to see concept technologies move from theory to reality: far too many promising projects fail because of a lack of commercial interest.
Related article: Power Generating Floors Gives New Meaning to Power Walk
Back in 2010 I wrote about an emerging technology to produce environmentally friendly electricity, powered literally by pedestrians who walk on specially adapted floors tiles. The concept is simple: you step on a floor panel when walking, the panel flex slightly, and captures wasted kinetic energy to electricity.
It would be a boon for owners with properties where thousands, if not millions of people pass everyday. Shopping malls, train stations and public spaces could all help to not only lower their own electricity bills, but also to contribute back to the national grid.
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| The slab moves 5mm each time a pedestrian steps on it. The kinetic energy is converted to electricity. |
Even the production itself is environmentally friendly: the rubber material used to produce these pads are also derived from recycled tyres and other reclaimed materials.
It's quite refreshing to see concept technologies move from theory to reality: far too many promising projects fail because of a lack of commercial interest.
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