Monday, 1st February 2010
PEDESTRIANS are set to power Tube stations and bus stops if new pavement-based energy generators pass tests this summer.
The idea is to turn the energy of commuters' moving feet into electricity.
Each time someone steps on a hi-tech pavement slab, designed by London firm Pavegen, the slab depresses 5mm, enough movement for the clever kit underneath to convert into electricity.
"We'll be doing a test installation at a major tube station this summer," Laurence Kemball-Cook, Pavegen MD, told thestar.com.
Pavegen did some testing in east London last year, but see the London Underground project as the start of a great leap forward.
"If the test at the underground station goes well, hopefully all the tube stations will be powered by walking," said Kemball-Cook.
The Tube station experiment will feature a whole stairway kitted out with the Pavegen slabs, possibly colour-coded to let passers-by know what's going on.
Kemball-Cook is confident of generating 25% of a station's energy needs with his eco-slabs, but is "anticipating much larger increases in power output down the line", up to 50%.
Lights at busy bus stops are also a likely candidate for the technology.
"We would like to put five slabs around every bus stop in London," says Kemball-Cook.
Awesome idea.
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