Tiles May Help Shrink Carbon Footprint by Harnessing Pedestrian Power

[MindMover]

This summer at the largest urban mall in Europe, visitors may notice something different at their feet. Twenty bright green rubber tiles will adorn one of the outdoor walkways at the Westfield Stratford City Mall, which abuts the new Olympic stadium in east London.

The squares aren't just ornamental. They are designed to collect the kinetic energy created by the estimated 40 million pedestrians who will use that walkway in a year, generating several hundred kilowatt-hours of electricity from their footsteps. That's enough to power half the mall's outdoor lighting.

The slabs are produced by Pavegen Systems, a London startup launched in 2009 by Laurence Kemball-Cook, a fresh-faced, 26-year-old Londoner who developed his clean energy idea while earning a degree in industrial design and technology at Loughborough University. The 17.7-by-23.6-inch (45-by-60-centimeter) tiles are designed to be used wherever pedestrians congregate en masse: transportation hubs such as including train, subway, and bus stations; airports; schools; malls; bustling shopping avenues. The power generated from millions of footfalls can be used to operate a range of low-power applications, including lighting, signs, digital ads, and Wi-Fi zones.

Nearly 30 permanent and temporary Pavegen projects have been installed in the U.K. and Europe. For two years now, four of its tiles have lined a hallway at the Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys near Canterbury, capturing energy from footfalls of its 1,100 students to keep the corridor lit. Pavegen has also harnessed music festival attendees' foot-stamping to charge cell phones and power LED lights.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/05/120518-floor-tiles-turn-footfalls-to-electricity/

[longship]

1. Piezo electric sidewalks!!!

What an innovative use of an existing technology! A couple years ago I heard of piezo electric generation by way of rain fall. Each drop of rain generates a little current. In a moderate cloud burst some very usable power could be harvested.

I like this solution. It's a mature technology adapted to solve a new problem.

[2on2u]

2. Ask yourself this question..... why are escalators that go down....

powered by electric motors? Why isn't the weight of the people on the escalator used to drive a generator with a governor system to keep the speed steady? (OR) why isn't the down escalator reverse geared to help drive the up escalator? Seems to me that it could be worked out somehow if the right person(s) were to attack the problem.

[happyslug]

3. If energy conservation in the concern, why install down escalators at all?

If you want to improve the energy efficiency of escalators, you install only escalators going up, you have people walk stairs going down (This is what they do in the Pittsburgh LRVs, you only have escalators going UP, going down you walk the stairs, if you are handicap there is an elevator). Thus why install down escalator at all? Most people have no problem walking DOWN STAIRS.

LRVs (and streetcars) have the ability to generate electrical power every time they slow down. The power then goes into the overhead (or other) electrical supply system for use by other cars on the system. Such regenerative systems even shows up in some on the new Hybrid and electric cars, but since the electricity is then put into storage for later use (and do to the loss of electricity is such storage) not as efficient as in LRVs, but it does seem to work.

Escalators actually use more power then elevators, but can move more people then elevators. You have to reserve the area of the elevator on every floor it runs up and down to. Thus that much less space for other things, including more elevators. Escalators take up the same amount of space per floor, but since people can walk onto an escalator at any time (unlike an elevator where people can only enter when it is on their floor), more people can use them AT THE SAME TIME. Thus if you want to move the maximum number of people you install escalators. If your first factor is energy efficiency you install elevators or the even more energy efficient system knows as "Stairs".

Side note: Elevators under about six floors, are a car balanced by a counterweight of the same weight. The electric motor thus only has to pull up the weight of the people in the car, the counterweight balances the weight of the elevator car. On the way down the Motor only has to act as a brake. Very energy efficient.

In buildings larger then about six floors, a different type of elevator is used. One that is electrically pulled up and down. Uses more power, but can cover more floors. Do to the two "types" of elevators you see a lot of buildings six floor or less in almost any urban area, but only in high price areas do you see taller buildings.

[2on2u]

4. The down escalator should be able to

put energy back into the system.... almost the same amount it took to bring the people up minus the friction and inefficiency of the motors.

[Ghost Dog]

7. Makes perfect sense.

I'm researching how to invest.

[2on2u]

8. In that way, once you start it, it should be able to run forever

with no energy input!!11!!!! Teh stocks will soar like penguins.

[Ghost Dog]

9. Got it. Energy will come from all the panicking people

running for the exits.

<g>

[MADem]

5. Some people have bad knees. They'd find the elevators.

I like the idea of using the weight of the people to make the escalator go down, though.

[chknltl]

6. Now pave our freeways with this tech.

For years I have wondered why this hasn't been done. Another unrelated notion, why aren't video game remotes designed to harness the energy of our finger and thumb movements on the control buttons.