At the 2024 World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, it’s possible to use your footsteps to generate electricity, and in turn, power software that will help plant mangrove trees.
The flooring technology is being promoted by London-based renewable energy power generation company Pavegen, which has the tiles installed in more than 37 countries.
“There’s an electromagnetic generator underneath the tile, and when you step on it, the downwards motion of the footstep spins the flywheel within the electromagnetic generator,” explained Farah Rashid, a sales executive for Pavegen.
“The rotational energy is then converted into off-grid electricity.”
The company acknowledges that while the tiles generate a “relatively small amount of electromagnetic energy”, 3 to 5 joules per footstep, the installations have been able to illuminate LED street lights, charge small devices, and even help irrigate wall garden installations.
Ms Rashid said the model on display at the World Future Energy Summit is customised to use data from footsteps to interact with software which helps to fund donations to plant mangrove trees in the UAE. There are many ways the data can be used to inform, educate and help with various philanthropic causes, she added.
At Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi, the company also worked with Masdar City in 2019 to install tiles that linked terminals 1 and 2 and powered monitors showing the real-time creation of energy using footsteps.
“Our goal is engagement,” she said. “We want people to be educated on environmental issues and we want people to interact with the built environment around them as well as other people … we want them to be involved.”
Pavegen says its tiles have been used in Washington near Dupont Circle to power LED lights, and in locations around UK transport hubs that help power monitors and mobile phone charging stations.
“We have them all over malls, transport hubs, and public places with a lot of foot traffic,” Ms Rashid said.
One of the largest installations was at the 2013 Paris Marathon, where 176 tiles were placed to utilise the footsteps of the racers along the finish line on the Champs Elysee.
The data from footsteps can also be customised to create different games and interactive experiences.
The tiles were invented by Pavegen founder and chief executive Laurence Kemball-Cook, who described the opportunity to help support the UAE’s mangrove planting initiative as a “milestone”.
Pavegen was founded in 2009, and most recently received $2.1 million from equity crowdfunding, according to its LinkedIn profile.
The company said it is also in the process of launching Pavegen Solar+, a tile system that “combines the power of solar energy with kinetic electromagnetic energy generated by footsteps”.
It is aiming for the solar hybrid tiles to be available this summer.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score):
Manchester City (0) v Tottenham Hotspur (1), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
MO
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs: 2019 Audi A7 Sportback
Price, base: Dh315,000
Engine: 3.0-litre V6
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 335hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,370rpm
Fuel economy 5.9L / 100km
What is a black hole?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'Unrivaled: Why America Will Remain the World’s Sole Superpower'
Michael Beckley, Cornell Press
The specs: 2018 Range Rover Velar R-Dynamic HSE
Price, base / as tested: Dh263,235 / Dh420,000
Engine: 3.0-litre supercharged V6
Power 375hp @ 6,500rpm
Torque: 450Nm @ 3,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 9.4L / 100kms
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
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GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
- Saturday 15 January: UAE beat Canada by 49 runs
- Thursday 20 January: v England
- Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad:
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles
Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly,
Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya
Shetty, Kai Smith
Company%20profile
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The biog
Name: Mohammed Imtiaz
From: Gujranwala, Pakistan
Arrived in the UAE: 1976
Favourite clothes to make: Suit
Cost of a hand-made suit: From Dh550
