Pedestrian Power To Light Up French City
22 April, 2010
Naresh Kumar
In Brief
Toulouse is investigating the feasibility of generating electricity by pedestrians walking on special sidewalk panels.
The French city of Toulouse is planning to install energy-absorbing sidewalk panels that would harvest pedestrian power to illuminate street lights. The panels, made by a Dutch company, Sustainable Dance Club, are embedded with microsensors that produce energy when people move over them. The company had also installed such modules in a nightclub in Rotterdam last year.
Toulouse city officials plan to place a section of custom-made modules in the city centre for a two-week trial period, which can produce around 60 watts of electricity, enough to power a street lamp.