Piezo-a-go-go

Author: Michelle Riggen-Ransom
Posted: June 23rd, 2008 @ 3:22pm
Info: bio / all posts
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An eco-conscious nightclub in Britain is harnessing the energy of its dancers and using it to provide power for their new club. In a process called piezoelectricity, an extra-springy dance floor causes a series of crystal blocks to be repeatedly squeezed below and turns the frenetic motions of the dancers into an electrical current.

Owner Andrew Charalambous, also the head of a new organization called Club4Climate, sees it as a new way to draw in the younger generation and get them interested in saving the environment.

“It’s a sexy and fresh approach as opposed to the way young people feel they are preached to by other more ‘grown-up’ charities,” said Charalambous. About 60% of the club’s power will come from the dancers.

Other uses of piezoelectricity are currently being explored both in the private and public sector. Dubbed “crowd farming” by researchers at MIT, it too works on the principle that mechanical movement can be converted into electricity. Imagine piezoelectric panels under the feet of harried travelers in an airport terminal, or lining the platforms of busy subway stations and turning thousands of steps into a clean, sustainable power source. It’s enough to put a skip in your step, or keep you dancing for one more song.

Comments

Adam Darowski Jun 23, 2008 at 5:09 pm

Getting these in schools would be sweet. All the travel between classes could provide the power needed for the actual classes.

This could be great marketing, though… “Dancing anywhere else is wasteful!”

k00k Jun 23, 2008 at 5:19 pm

Being a DJ, I’ve always wanted to have my equipment powered by the crowd. If they stop dancing, the music stops. Yet another reason to never stop dancing!