Have you ever been walking on a floor and the floor felt like it was vibrating beneath  your feet?  If so, just think of it as renewable energy in the making.  If you have, you were probably experiencing this phenomenon in  a multi-story shopping mall during the holidays.  When thousands of shoppers are walking the corridors at the same time it can create a mini-earthquake.

Most new buildings are designed to withstand this motion, which structural engineers call “dynamic load.”  It seems a London architectural firm has unveiled a proposal for capturing all of that footloose energy and converting it into electricity.  Plans are now under way to build an energy-harvesting staircase with small hydraulic generators embedded in the floor of a London subway.

The estimates are that each footstep can generate 3 to 5 watts of power.  If you multiply that by tens of thousands of walkers each day – then you could light an entire building.  Harnessing energy from human and natural activity is a growing enterprise.  Do not be surprised if someday your workout at the gym will help power the facility’s air-conditioning system.

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