Yahoo News 
The Lab: The paving slab that could power the cities of the future
'Our aim is to get a flooring technology which costs the same as standard floor tiles which can provide power on demand in every city around the world'
Cities of the future could be powered by people walking along their streets - thanks to a hi-tech paving slab invented by a 27-year-old London entrepreneur.
Laurence Kemball-Cook’s idea - Pavegen - is shown off in The Lab - the first in a weekly video series made by Yahoo! and Sky, exploring the ideas of Britain’s brightest young inventors.
Kemball-Cook came up with Pavegen aged 24 - watching people walk through a busy train station, and wondering if there was a way to harness the energy.
“Our aim is to get a flooring technology which costs the same as standard floor tiles which can provide power on demand in every city around the world,” says Kemball-Cook.
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Pavegen’s slabs “yield” downwards about 5mm when stepped on - turning a small fraction of the kinetic energy of a footstep into power that can be stored.
“The idea started in 2009 when I was working for one of Europe’s largest energy companies,” says Kemball-Cook. “I saw there was an opportunity for renewable energy in places where low-carbon technologies like solar and wind are not practical, for example in built-up cities. I wanted to harness the energy from under our feet and convert this to off-grid electrical power.”
The slabs have already been used in nightclubs, at festivals and outside Olympic stadiums - and although the power from a single footstep is low, the combined impact of thousands of steps can power lights and even homes.
“I still don’t think I have “made it,” he admits. “Every time we have another install I feel like I am getting closer. When there are Pavegen’ lining the streets of every major city in the world and when I walk home and I power the street lights with Pavegen tiles - then, maybe.”
