Charge your phone... by going for a walk
Bouncy pavement turns footsteps into electricity
IT may not be your usual way to charge your phone.
But a clever new bouncy pavement can now generate enough electricity from pedestrians’ footsteps to power two nearby public charging points.
People can walk or run over the stretch of tiles, made from rubber and stainless steel and containing an electro-magnetic generator, in telford, Shropshire, to power the free chargers built into a bench.
Solar powered digital screens showing the amount of energy being generated have also been installed by the local council.
It works in a similar way to the kinetic dancefloor that rock band Coldplay are using for their world tour, which will generate electricity when fans jump up and down.
The pavement, which can produce 2.1 watts of electricity per hour, has been supplied by technology firm Pavegen, which also installed the same floor tiles at Heathrow airport and on London’s Oxford Street. the project has been funded by telford and Wrekin Council as part of its £4million ‘On Your Side’ package of sustainability projects across the borough.
It also includes the installation of solar-powered street lights and the purchase of electric vehicles.
Councillor Carolyn Healy, telford and Wrekin Council cabinet member for climate change, said it was an ‘engaging’ way to show how clean electricity can be generated.
She added: ‘It’s a fun way to keep the climate conversation going and nudge people to consider how they can help make our borough become more sustainable.
‘We’d like people to take away the idea, “If my footsteps can generate electricity, just think what else I can do?”
‘Children are loving walking, running and jumping on the new pavement and seeing how much energy they’ve generated. We hope this project reinforces their sense that their actions, quite literally, have the power to change the world.’
Jogger tina Brasenell told the BBC: ‘I think it’s fabulous. I think it’s really good. I’ve actually seen someone who had got their mobile phone actually charging up so we could see as we ran over it we were actually doing some good, helping someone charge their phone and stay connected.’
Loren Wilson, who used one of the benches to charge her phone, said: ‘I think it’s really good for the future as well. It’s handy for people when they’re walking around outside and they don’t just have a charge port there, so it’s just really handy and really futuristic as well.’
Laurence Kemball-Cook, founder of Pavegen, said: ‘We have been developing this technology to allow it to withstand the harshest winters and are excited for the people of telford to try out generating energy from themselves.’