What if your daily commute could light up a park? Laurence Kemball-Cook’s innovative technology captures the energy of footfall, offering a new approach to urban, off-grid power
Laurence Kemball-Cook founded Pavegen with a simple but ambitious aim: to create affordable off-grid electricity in cities. The idea arrived while he was working at energy company E.ON. “I was looking at new forms of street lighting powered by solar and wind,” he says. “But in dense urban environments neither of those technologies work well. Wind needs to be in the sea or high up, and solar struggles when you’re surrounded by tall buildings.”
Cities, though, have something else in abundance: moving people. As an industrial designer with a fascination with sustainability, he spent five years building prototypes in his bedroom of a system that would harness the kinetic energy of footfall and turn into power. As with all good inventors, people told him he was crazy; but his breakthrough moment came when he realised a flywheel technology would work.
“One step can spin the flywheel for up to 10 seconds, which is good for batteries because it gives continuous power.” Multiply that by thousands of footsteps, and the output becomes something significant. After a trial at the London 2012 Olympics, where a temporary walkway was fitted with its tiles to power lighting, Pavegen now has installations in 250 sites in 5 countries.
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At Telford train station, energy generated by people walking is used to charge phones. In Hong Kong, energy created on a running track is stored in batteries and powers the lights in a nearby building; outside the White House, in Washington DC, 10,000 daily pedestrians power the lights in a local park.
To maximise efficiency, the technology needs to be implemented in high-traffic areas, and of course retrofitting an existing building or space comes with its own logistical and financial challenges. Deploying the tech in train stations or major shopping malls where tens of thousands of feet pound the ground each day will be much more efficient than along a remote rural street, for example.
Yet, explains Kemball-Cook, “in a new town you can specify 100,000 square metres from day one.” That’s why he has been spending time in Saudi Arabia, where the country is investing heavily in new cities that need new roads, paths and buildings.
“There’s also a generational shift. Young people care more about sustainability. We’re at an inflection point where younger generations are taking positions of responsibility and see the value we bring. That’s why the next five years are critical.”
He added: “People have energy, people want to be fit, people want to be part of a community. When you generate energy with someone, you bond over it. You’d be like, hey, I’m generating energy for my city. That’s cool.”
Costs of installing systems are still high so the next step is to raise investment to scale production to help bring the price down. The aim is to make Pavegen the same price as ‘normal’ flooring, and it can be installed in the same way. “We believe the footsteps of millions can power cities in the future,” Kemball-Cook says; “We make energy fun.”
Main image: Pavegen
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