Pulsing beats, thumping bass, flashing lights, dancing, and piezoelectricity? Yes, piezoelectricity. Piezoelectricity, the source of energy found commonly within the innards of a quartz watch has club-goers raving for this green source of energy—literally. Recently, piezoelectricity technology has moved from the wristwatch to the dance floor—the actual floor—to harvest the kinetic energy of dancers.
At the Surya night club in London, the dance floor is equipped with a “bouncing floor” composed of springs and power generating blocks which, when compressed by the weight of a dancing clubber, produces a small electrical current via piezoelectricity providing a significant part of the nightclub’s electrical needs. This technology, along with wind turbines and solar panels installed at Surya, is poised to create an (almost) completely sustainable nightclub—the first in the world!
The application of the piezoelectric flooring certainly has more uses than high energy nightclubs. Perhaps, the technology could be rolled out on sidewalks, at busy bus terminals, train stations, airports, or even shopping malls where green energy could be harvested at a large scale. Call it “crowd-sourcing” of energy, if you will!
I find it fascinating that a technology once reserved for little pieces of machinery such as wrist watches can be extrapolated and magnified to produce enough power for an entire building.
Where else do you see this technology applied? Do you feel comfortable knowing you’re clubbing on an energy-producing, piezoelectric dance floor?
I know I am. Time to get my dancing shoes out (then again, how about shoes with piezoelectric soles?)