Pavegen's Sustainable Kinetic Energy Floor Tiles

As our world grapples with climate change from digitally induced carbon footprints and increasingly harmful sources of non-renewable energy, sustainable energy solutions have become a quest that is growing as significant as ever to achieve.

Organizations, communities, and companies are continuously searching for ways to harness renewable energy in order to fuel our endless needs, from powering cities to charging our day-to-day devices.

Searching beyond traditional means, Pavegen, an engineering company founded by Laurence Kemball-Cook, has taken the term “power walking” to the next level, innovatively generating renewable and clean energy from people’s footsteps through kinetic energy floor tiles.

Origins of Pavegen

As a student at Loughborough University back in 2009, Kemball-Cook worked on viable sustainable energy solutions, conducting research mostly on renewable energy sources that we have grown more familiar with, such as wind turbines and solar panels.

Kemball-Cook searched for ways to apply sustainable energy solutions in dense urban environments but found traditional renewable energy sources as less than ideal. Solar panels would only work during the day, and it would be unlikely for dense urban environments to have enough open space for wind turbines.

While commuting back and forth to campus, passing through the immensely crowded Oxford Street and one of the busiest transport hubs in England that is Victoria Station, Kemball-Cook would take notice of the millions of passengers and started to wonder about the possibility of harnessing kinetic energy through people’s footsteps.

Kemball-Cook developed a prototype of his kinetic energy floor tiles and founded Pavegen that same year. After years of searching for VCs and backers, who ended up not accepting the company’s proposal, Pavegen resorted to crowdfunding as a way to not only fund the development of its tiles but also to share its vision and innovative idea with the world. Since then, Pavegen’s tiles can be found in plenty of locations across the globe.

Walking for Energy

Pavegen focuses on three components to make its tech work, which includes electromagnetic generators, composite tiles, and arguably most importantly, people.

Any movement made on Pavegen’s floor tiles will cause a weight that compresses an electromagnetic generator placed under them. This compression then produces about 2-4 joules of clean, off-grid energy, which can usually power a night light. While this may not seem like much, high-trafficked areas such as shopping malls, parks, train stations, and airports would have thousands of collective steps from people, generating an abundance of energy from Pavegen’s kinetic energy floor tiles without much effort.

Pavegen’s tiles started out square-shaped but Pavegen’s engineers noticed a flaw. People had to step directly on the center of the tiles, making only 20% of footsteps in the right place to generate energy, the rest being dead spots. The company then developed its latest triangular-shaped tiles that guarantee almost 100% energy generation whenever a person takes their step, no matter which spot.

As the tiles, like any other tile, exist as a means for people to move on and are not at all disruptive, they can be placed outdoors on the streets or indoors in office buildings or stores, technically making energy generation possible almost anywhere. Whether pedestrians are taking a stroll or shoppers are running back and forth during a massive sale, as long as one takes their step there, energy generation can happen.

Digital Connection

Pavegen started its project as a means to generate sustainable lighting in off-grid locations. However, as its target market grew, the company transformed its product’s design into one that not only generates power but data as well, promoting interconnection between citizens and their cities.

Those who encounter Pavegen tiles can open up its app, Pavegen GO, and access the wireless, real-time data that each tile sends out. Using Bluetooth, shop owners can see how crowded their shop has been during that day, and visitors can see how much clean energy they have produced by walking around. The app has a point and reward system, which at the moment includes two options: retail discounts or charity donations.

Pavegen has its tiles installed in 37 countries with 270 projects worldwide, some permanent but most temporary for special, often gamified, installations. Back during the 2012 Summer Olympics, Pavegen installed its tiles in the West Ham station and generated enough energy to charge 10,000 phones for an hour. The company also had its tiles placed in The Race to Climate Neutrality in Alicante, Spain, and during the Australian Open 2023 in Melbourne, Australia.

From powering LED lights to smart charging benches, Pavegen has shown the direct sustainable impact that our footsteps can bring. With the expense of each tile still being quite expensive, it is unlikely that there will be widespread adoption anytime soon. However, we never know what the future holds, with advancements in technology possibly making this possible someday.

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