Power from the People

Imagine yourself walking down the sidewalk on your way to work or school or the grocery store. You’re taking your usual route, but today you notice this is no ordinary sidewalk. Instead of the usual concrete slabs bordering busy 2-lane streets designed for efficient traffic movement, you are surrounded by greenery. Instead of car traffic buzzing by, you hear birds chirping and cheerful bicyclists zooming past in their own lane. The pavement, made out of recycled car tires, has a nice bounce to it. Not so much that you can’t keep your balance, like on a trampoline, but just enough to avoid the stress of impact you get on hard surfaces such as concrete. When you look down you notice an illuminated circle in the center of this rubber slab. This glow lets you know that the step you just took has generated electricity.