Power from the People

Power generation has traditionally relied upon a centralized unit that

transmits electricity to areas connected to it via grid. Owing to significant
developments in the power industry, the way electricity is generated and
reaches the end user has today undergone a radical shift. There has been a
considerable amount of focus on technologies encompassing independent
power producing units that generate electricity from resources present
locally. One interesting development in this regard is the harnessing of power
from people’s footsteps, which can in the future, be a viable alternative to
energy generated from solar and wind resources. Such technologies have
immense commercial potential; are innovative and present immense
implications as far as social awareness is concerned.

Piezoelectric materials, which give rise to the piezoelectric effect, are

sensitive to mechanical pressure and on deformation, produce an electric
current. Therefore, footsteps are essentially movement or kinetic energy,
which on contact with the piezoelectric material will result in the production
of electricity. The electricity is harvested, captured and stored in batteries 1. In
many places, piezoelectric devices have been incorporated into footpaths to
harvest energy and have been placed inside shoes to recover the “walking
energy”.

Despite the attractiveness of this new form of technology, the power

output of one individual is quite insignificant and cannot be used to power
energy intensive equipment such as washing machines or television sets. The
cumulative effect of many people may, however, consolidate significant
power output. This, therefore, necessitates that piezoelectric devices are
installed in places frequented by large numbers of people such as train
stations and busy walkways. The electricity generated can be used to power
signs, bulbs and other similar electric equipment and perhaps also power the
building as in the case of London’s first eco-disco.

If this were to become a reality on a massive scale, this would generate

energy consciousness among the population about the ability of kinetic
motion to produce electricity and essentially, the difficulty with which power
is generated. This in turn increases the receptiveness and willingness to
contribute, however little, to the generation of electricity. It may indirectly
also encourage people to be frugal in the way the consume electricity,
particularly once they can be made aware by virtue of their own effort in
producing it, of how valuable a commodity electricity is. Another potential of
its exploitation could be us installation of piezoelectric devices in fitness
facilities and perhaps, this may play a role in obesity mitigation, by giving
people rewards of electricity once their daily average movement is increased.

In addition to this, the space such form of technology occupies is not

considerable, again making it more attractive to conventional renewable

1
Wikipedia, Energy Harvesting (October 11, 2010), viewed October 16 2010,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_harvesting
energy technologies. Also, given the population of this earth, energy self
sufficiency might not be that hard a target at all.