Pavegen To Tap Pedestrians For Power In the UK 197
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by
samzenpus
from the electric-slide dept.
from the electric-slide dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Several years ago Laurence Kembell-Cook unveiled Pavegen floor tiles, which capture kinetic energy from footsteps and convert it to electricity. Now after two years of product testing and picking up a slew of awards across the U.K., Pavegen has received its first commercial order — to light up the new Westfield Stratford City Shopping Centre."
Re:Waste of energy in manufacture (Score:4, Informative)
You also have to take into account the amount of energy taken to make the ceramic floor tile that this replaces. It probably won't zero out the stainless steel energy, but grinding clay and baking it in a kiln uses some energy.
Re:Laws of Thermodynamics... (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, a softer (energy-absorbing) surface is more comfortable to walk on, provided it doesn't absorb excessive amounts.
The plastic tracks in stadiums are softer than asphalt, which again is softer than concrete. Guess which one people like to run on best?
Some athletes from poor countries practice on alphalt and find they run slower in a stadium. Concrete would be even faster, but it tends to wreck your knees unless you have good shoes, which, again, absorb energy.