Pavegen

Pavegen Systems is a technology company that has developed paving slabs to convert energy from people's footsteps into small amounts of electrical power.[1]

Pavegen Systems
FounderLaurence Kemball-Cook
Key people
Laurence Kemball-Cook (CEO)
Websitewww.pavegen.com/ 

History

Pavegen Systems was founded in 2009 by Laurence Kemball-Cook. Cook, a graduate in Industrial Technology and Design from Loughborough University, took on a university placement with E.ON, and proposed using footfall as a potential power source.[2]

The development of the first prototype of the Pavegen flooring tile was funded by a Royal Society of Arts International Design Directions prize. The tile that converts kinetic energy from footsteps into electricity, while collecting data about walking traffic patterns.[3][4][5]

The first generation tile was made from recycled polymer, with the top surface made from recycled truck tires. Power is generated when a footfall compresses the slab by about 5 mm (0.2 in). The exact technology is a secret, but PaveGen officials have said it involves electromagnetic induction by copper coils and magnets.[6] Pavegen says each pedestrian generates an average of 5 watts per footstep at 12-48 volts DC,[7] enough to run an LED street lamp for 30 seconds.[1] The technology was developed by Pavegen founder Laurence Kemball-Cook.[8][9]

An improved tile was developed in 2016 which, according to the company, improved energy conversion by 'about 20 times'.[10] The amount of energy generated has been criticised, with one calculation claiming that walking for 4 hours on PaveGen paving would generate 0.02% of the average European's energy needs.[11] It has been suggested that the technology's strength rests in its ability to track volume and direction of traffic flow, thus providing useful metrics in a range of scenarios.[11]

Among other installations, the slabs have been laid at London's West Ham Underground station for the 2012 Olympic Games.[12] In April 2013, a demonstration installation with Schneider Electric harvested energy from the runners in the Paris Marathon.[13] PaveGen has also put these tiles on a public soccer field in Rio de Janeiro to allow play after sunset.[14]

A study of a central building at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, suggested that if pavers covered the 3.1% of the floor that sees the most foot traffic, it would generate an estimated 1.1 megawatt-hour per year, about 0.5% of the building's energy needs.[15]

In 2012, Pavegen raised £350,000 through London Business Angels, which helped the company create a tangible business. [16] In 2015, the company raised £1.9m through the Crowdcube platform, allowing them to gain 1500 investors and valued the company at about £17m. [17][18]

In 2015, Kemball-Cook acts as CEO of the company, For his invention, he was chosen as Businessman of the Year at the PEA Awards, [19] and presented with a Shell LiveWIREGrand Ideas Award.[20] He also was named as honorary Enterprise and Innovation Fellow by Loughborough University.[21]

Distributors

Pavegen have distributors in Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Portugal, India and Japan.[22]

Criticism

The Register points out that this device generates only "tiny, pointless amounts of energy". [11]. This borne out by an article published by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in which the output from 54,267 steps on a Pavegen system is shown to have generated 217,028 watt-seconds, a mere 0.06 kWh.

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See also

References
  1. Webster, George (13 October 2011). "Green sidewalk makes electricity -- one footstep at a time". CNN International. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  2. "See the futuristic flooring that lights up a city through kinetic energy harvesting". National Observer, By Charles Mandel | June 13th 2016
  3. "Six inventions that are cooler than sci-fi". Niagara Falls Review, Craig and Marc Kielberger. January 23, 2016
  4. "Akon and Shell create Africa’s first human and solar powered football pitch". Metro, Lee Thomas-Mason 19 Jan 2016.
  5. "Akon and Shell Partner To Create Human/Solar Powered Football Fields". 360nobs, January 20, 2016.
  6. Khadilkar, Dhananjay (20 April 2013). "Energy-Harvesting Street Tiles Generate Power from Pavement Pounder". Scientific American. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  7. "Pavegen Official Website". The Product. Archived from the original on 1 April 2014. Retrieved 2014-04-24.
  8. Periani, Marconi. "TEDxRio+20 Speakers". TedxRio. Archived from the original on April 27, 2012. Retrieved July 2012. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  9. Ellis, Emma Grey (13 June 2016). "The Best New Green Energy Tech Could Be Right Underfoot". Wired. Retrieved 2016-06-13. He began developing the technology while studying design at Loughborough University, and developed the first prototype in all of 15 hours.
  10. "Pavegen's power-generating floor is coming to Oxford Street". Wired, By Rowland Manthorpe. 11 May 2016
  11. "Pavegen: The Company that can't make energy out of crowds tries to make money out of them". The Register, 26 May 2015. Lewis Page
  12. Ellis, Vicky (13 July 2012). "Foot power lights up Olympic walkway". energylivenews. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  13. Dhananjay Khadilkar (April 20, 2013). "Energy-Harvesting Street Tiles Generate Power from Pavement Pounder". Scientific American. Retrieved 2013-04-22.
  14. "The floor tiles that use foot power to light up cities ". The Guardian, Killian Fox. 11 January 2015
  15. Li, Xiaofeng; Strezov, Vladimir (2014). "Modelling piezoelectric energy harvesting potential in an educational building". Energy Conversion and Management. 85: 435–442. doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2014.05.096.
  16. "Private Investing | Newable". www.lbangels.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2017-07-25. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  17. "Pavegen raising £750,000 investment on Crowdcube. Capital At Risk". Crowdcube. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  18. "Pavegen Kicks Off Crowdcube Campaign To Power Up Its Kinetic Flooring Business – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  19. "The PEA Awards 2013 - MyGreenPod | Sustainable & ethical news & lifestyle hub". MyGreenPod | Sustainable & ethical news & lifestyle hub. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  20. "Home | Shell LiveWIRE UK". www.shell-livewire.org. Archived from the original on 2017-06-13. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  21. "Enterprise and Innovation Fellow talks about starting a business and time at university - Careers and Employability BlogCareers and Employability Blog". blog.lboro.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  22. "Distributors".
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