Monday, October 30, 2006

Power to the People (well, sort of)


A clever, potential source of energy is being tested by an innovative Japanese company in the guise of rubber mats installed in a Tokyo train station. As the nearly 760,000 daily commuters of Toyko Station race through the turnstiles, their footstomps are being converted into electricity:

Stepping Up Power in Tokyo". A train station in Tokyo tests if passengers' steps can generate electricity.

The goal is to provide another socially responsible form of power for the world's growing power needs in the face of climate change.

Now just imagine all the power that could be generated by armies of people running on treadmills at gyms, racing on rubberized school tracks, and galloping across those nifty moving walkways at airports. Perhaps it is enough power to trigger a light bulb in one of our heads to write a biz plan to sell this technology in the USA!

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

fascinating and ingenious. Perhaps this technology could help our nation overcome this crisis
"Weight gain means lower gas mileage"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061025/ap_on_re_us/obesity_gas_consumption

shouldn't heavy people generate more power?...

9:40 AM  
Blogger Michael said...

hilarious comment, J.

heavy people probably *can* generate more power! hmm...i see yet another business plan-in-development...

5:34 PM  

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