Foot Power at 2012 Olympics in London

Not sure whether Canada is thinking Green for its upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver. So, I was happy to read that the city of London has partnered with Pavegen systems, a London-based company, to install 16,000 of pavement slabs for the 2012 Summer Olympics. What’s special about these slabs is that when you step on them, they produce electricity! Enough electricity to power street lights and subway stations!

The slabs have a disc in the middle and every time someone steps on the slab, the disc is compressed and the kinetic energy is converted into electricity stored in an internal battery or sent directly through wires to a light source. A network of wires can connect a number of slabs. According to the company, eventually all the tube [subway] stations will be powered by walking.

• How it works
• You can sign up your city for a trial