Power from the pedestrians

Check out this fascinating blurb in Wired today about a project that British engineers are currently working on. It involves capturing street vibrations -- everything from trains and cars to footfalls of pedestrians -- and converting this energy into electricity.

"We can harvest between 5 to 7 watts of energy per footstep that is currently being wasted into the ground," says Claire Price, director of The Facility Architects, the British firm heading up the Pacesetters Project.

Wired refers to advocates of this technology as "vibration harvesters," a term that currently returns a grand total of 50 hits in a Google search. I'm sure that number will be going up very quickly.

Thanks to my friend Dorje, good friend of 25 years and fantastically talented artist, for the hot tip on this story.

Tags: vibration harvesters alternative energy