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A thin mat that creates electricity from footsteps has been installed at Tokyo’s Shibuya train station to harness the kinetic energy they expend as they pass through ticket gates twice a day.
A person weighing 60kg can generate 0.5W by stepping on the panel twice. The mat is on the plaza outside a main entrance at Shibuya station and the electricity generated by the panel operates an electronic LED board which continuously displays updates of the amount of power generated.
Some holiday lights also run off the pedestrian-power, but that’s just the start of big plans JR East has for the piezoelectric gadgetry. Read more about the ‘power generation floor’ over at Lets Japan.
(via Lets Japan)
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02:13 PM 
Mark Weitzman •
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Environment | Japan | Power | R&D | Transportation 
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