June 26, 2006 — The tremors from passing trucks, the rumblings of speeding trains, and even the pitter-patter of little feet could soon be captured and converted into energy to light walkways and buildings.
London-based Facility Architects is working on a project called Pacesetters that aims to literally harness the pulse of a city and reuse it as a renewable energy source.
"In rush hour at Victoria Station, you have 34,000 people traveling through that space in one hour," said the architectural firm's director, Claire Price.
"You don't need to be a math genius to realize that if you can harness that energy… you can actually generate a very useful power source that is currently being wasted."
The impetus for the Pacesetters project arose out of an international design, which Facility Architects won. At the prize-giving ceremony one of the judges told Price that he loved the idea of harvesting energy from vibrations, but said it was too bad it would never work.
"That was a red flag to a bull," said Price.
Price's team started investigating the idea more seriously and just a few months later had a proposal as well as financial and technical support from several organizations.
"My first reaction when I saw it was wow, crikey. This is fantastic. As an engineer of course, you can really see that, yeah, this can really work," said Tony Bates, business development manager at Scott Wilson, an engineering consultancy firm based in the U.K.
Bates approached Price after reading about the Pacesetters project and the two companies are now in the process of developing a joint partnership to make the idea a reality.
The architectural team is currently working with a couple of university research groups to finish two vibration-harvesting prototypes by December.
The first is a staircase that will contain technology — either hydraulic or piezoelectric — in the risers to sense the kinetic energy from commuter footfalls and convert them into an electrical current.
"To climb stairs you have to apply a bit more force so there may be more energy there," said Jim Hull, a professor of engineering at Hull University.
Hull hopes to develop a system that will convert at least 50 percent of the six to eight watts each person typically generates while walking.
The current will be stored in a battery, which can be used to provide energy for lighting or electronic devices.
By next summer, the most efficient staircase method will be installed in an existing building to undergo analysis.
The second prototype is a wireless system of lighting that will use tiny generators with components designed to resonate at the same frequency of surrounding vibrations.
The resonance with either prototype moves a magnet relative to a coil or puts stress on a crystalline structure to produce current. Light-emitting diodes connected to such vibration harvesters could work to illuminate the underside of arches.
As the team moves forward, Price has considered calling that skeptical contest judge to fill him in on the latest details.
But she doesn't feel the least bit of contempt.
"We all need the grit in the oyster that makes the pearl," she said. "As creatives and professionals we need the doubters because that spurs you on."
