This Street Turns Footsteps Into Electricity!
Ғылым және технология
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Imagine every footstep we made was a step towards creating cleaner cities.
Let me introduce you to Pavegen. Started by Laurence Kemball-Cook, a guy on a mission to make electricity just from walking. This journey, which started in 2009, went through over 750 prototypes to finally create a floor tile that turns footsteps into clean energy.
Laurence got the idea while rushing through Victoria train station, a place with 75 million visitors a year, and thought, "Hey, we could totally turn this foot traffic into electricity!"
So, what does this all mean? Well, every time you step on a Pavegen tile, you’re making energy.
This isn’t just cool; it’s changing how we think about power in our cities. It's perfect for busy spots like airports, shopping malls, or even schools, where there’s consistent foot traffic. It's not dependent on the weather and works day or night too!
Plus, it’s not just about making energy. Pavegen is all about connecting with people, showing them how their actions can make a change, and even rewarding them for walking and creating power. They've already done this in 37 countries and more than 200 projects worldwide, empowering communities and educating people about renewable energy.
Would you like to see these in a city near you?
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Thanks to Joe, Eric and the Pavegen team for helping bring this video to life!
Пікірлер: 75
Would love to see this start to transform the concrete jungles of major cities. Putting those step goals into real use!
@itsSamBentley
6 ай бұрын
Right?! So much potential
@amusing4me257
6 ай бұрын
There could be competitions between cities to see who generated the most power that month!
@laurencekc
6 ай бұрын
I love this idea! YES LETS DO IT! @@amusing4me257
This is really awesome tech. Schools would absolutely benefit from this.
@itsSamBentley
6 ай бұрын
Think it’s a great way to engage young people with clean energy early on!
Fascinating technology! This reminds me of something that could be find in the solarpunk universe. Also great challenging questions you gave him, along with accurate and honest answers.
@itsSamBentley
6 ай бұрын
Could definitely see this as part of a solar punk future!!
I love hearing about products like this. The idea of these being put into high walkway areas and then used to either power lights or be stored for use is amazing. Love to see more like this!
@itsSamBentley
6 ай бұрын
That makes me happy, glad you enjoyed hearing about it!
This is such a great idea! Even if just put in indoor places like malls, train stations, airports etc. it could be a good chunk of the energy consumed in those locations, and all with what people are doing anyway which is walking to and from their destination! Really cool idea and hope to see it realistically implemented
Amazing! It's the kind of idea that when somebody actually comes up with it, you're surprised that nobody thought of it before
@itsSamBentley
5 ай бұрын
Right?!
Thank you for the feature Sam!
@itsSamBentley
6 ай бұрын
You’re very welcome, thank you for inviting me down to check your awesome innovation out!
@junoantaresofficial
6 ай бұрын
Oh my god I'm dumb, I rewatched the video and realised I missed you answering half of my questions. Sorry!! What effect does one part failing have on the whole? Thats the only question I had that I didnt hear an answer to. I understand you are probably really busy so if you have the time to answer that would be awesome, otherwise I wish you and your company all the best!
If every government on the planet cooperated and allocated funding for this to happen in their countries, cities, towns. provinces, prefectures, etc., there is enough money and resources on a global scale that they could implement this everywhere. Combined with wind, solar, and hydro sourced power, we could be a truly energy renewable, energy sustainable planet. This would also provide a 'safe' first step towards a cooperative global initiative and could help break down a wall/boundary here and there.
That's genuinely wonderful to see. My only immediate concern is the effect on people with mobility issues? Ie. I'm curious if it would be a more difficult surface for wheelchairs to traverse (especially electric) and if the slight movement of the triangles would set people off balance or be a tripping hazard etc.
Put them into Gyms and maybe find a way to incorporate them into equipment like trampolines for example. Perhaps the triangles would have to be minimised or made more flexible to add them to certain fabrics. There are so many applications. What an exciting project to be working on, congratulations. 🎉
Cannot wait till these start to appear in things like marathon paths. Racing for energy
wow amazing idea! hope it becomes mainstream. Also I am loving these longer documentary style videos Sam they are great ! thanks for the great content
@itsSamBentley
6 ай бұрын
Appreciate that! I’m going to be focusing more on longer doc styles moving forward thanks for ur support 🙏🏼
set these up in a kids play area, them sprinting about would power whole cities
Great video and a really interesting product. My only thought is, what about solar panels. What's the cost to energy ratio for solar panels vs these?
@amusing4me257
6 ай бұрын
Great question
Great work Sam, love your content. Saludos from Tijuana, Mexico.
@itsSamBentley
6 ай бұрын
Muchas Gracias mi amigo!
So Dallas Texas in the USA is a pretty experimental place as in what’s trending worldwide, and shows up in California or NYC will often then show up there. It’s almost as if Dallas is the testing grounds to see if the rest of the USA will take on the trend or not. Just saying it may be a good place to start in the USA.
Imagine this at a fitness studio while doing aerobics or dancing…
I'm wondering how we could get municipalities and other government bodies on this. Especially when they're not climate focussed.
Looks fantastically engineered and very exciting use of all those billions of daily footsteps! Great farsighted vision!
This is so cool! I’m curious if this could be achieved on a big scale for highways. Imagine driving an electric car and then charging your car with the electricity you produced by driving it!
Imagine if they developed such tech for roads, it could generate so much energy.😀👍
Yes! I’ve waited so long for something like this! 💚
@itsSamBentley
6 ай бұрын
It’s like the future is finally here!
@kuriosastoryteller
6 ай бұрын
@@itsSamBentley And it’s fantastic! 💚
Thanks Sam for the news!
This is something that I have thought about for years! I am absolutely thrilled to see someone with the means to create it making it!!
They’ve been at the University of Birmingham for a few years ❤
Sam on location! Love it :D
@itsSamBentley
6 ай бұрын
More to come!!
been following on instagram for a while just found your channel, i had no idea you were also a brummie. hope to see this tech used more around new street station and hopefully one day be used in the new station they are using for hs2
I really wish cities would start using things like this but you never hear or dee of anything actually getting implemented 😅😅😅
So great to hear about stuff like this!
@itsSamBentley
6 ай бұрын
I’ve got loads more coming!
Awesome idea and great interview!
Great product idea. Put this in airports.
Really cool! The implications of this are amazing and I hope it truly takes the world by storm. Thank you for sharing!
Fabulous idea! Has he thought about applying for the earthshot prize to potentially win investment to scale his product up and gain even more publicity :) I love it so much ❤
I prefer to watch your KZread videos than your short videos
Amazing invention!
@itsSamBentley
6 ай бұрын
🙌🏼🙌🏼
Brilliant idea. So much potential. I'd install it in the house to help with power bills.
That's amazing in a extremely busy foot traffic area it would work perfectly ❤
The heavier you are, the more energy you produce... my time has come!
Amazing!! Would love to work on this project! Can't wait until it's being used worldwide!
This is amazing and I love it
@itsSamBentley
6 ай бұрын
Me too 🥰
Honestly seems quite fun to walk on too 😹🚶♀
Love it!
Cooooool. Yes please!!🎉
@itsSamBentley
6 ай бұрын
🙏🏼🙏🏼
So cool!
Imagine how much the USA will produce 😂😂 but brilliant idea!
15 minutes cities…
It is incredible, but as someone from brazil country my first tought is: what about people stealing pieces of it for wires, u knwo theres a cooper black market out here, so yikes. Thtas my only concern with this kind of thing
Shared
@3:25 what do you mean it gets dark early/quickly in tropical countries??
Can you make them for roads?
The guy directly told you joules and you randomly switched it to watts. Either way one step is only enough to power a bulb for 1/12 of a SECOND. Should have checked your work, you hyped it up by a factor of hundreds
This had been tested in India by one company in India 7 Years Ago. I wonder what happened to the project later. kzread.info/dash/bejne/eX6GscSOeLDYhMo.html Hope Pavegen will be able to scale it and make it more efficient.
How disability friendly is this? Like have they tested to see how this would affect someone with vertigo or dementia? How easy is it to walk on with a prosthetic? Does it make wheelchair use more difficult on the users arms? Does it make wheelchair use rely on a second person to push and limiting one's independence?
This is super cool but im gonna say its not going to be the future. Solar and nuclear are going to be it.
Well, the problem is that the energy that humans put into those devices is reduced from the humans because each time they step on one of the steps they sink down a bit into the ground and have to lift themselves up afterwards. After walking on such a path for a long time one can feel quite exhausted. As a consequence of that humans have to eat more to regain the energy they lost on the path and on a global scale no energy is won by that technology.
Thank you Sam. 🏜🕺🏻🐕🏖