From plants with supercharged powers of photosynthesis to windows that collect sunlight and convert it to supply energy to their buildings, these inventions represent the kind of ingenuity we need to tackle global warming
Amid soaring global temperatures and the recent revelations of a mass decline in insect numbers, we may finally have reached the tipping point where the climate crisis becomes an emergency. Within this changed context, radical and novel solutions are now required to arrest global carbon dioxide emissions and mitigate against the already alarming effects of climate change. Here are five startups and innovators with ideas that could make a big difference if sufficiently scaled up.
Pavegen
Pavegen’s technology converts the kinetic energy of pedestrians’ footsteps into electricity and data. Its high-tech walkways have been installed in Abu Dhabi Airport, the University of Birmingham and Dupont Circle in Washington DC, among others. The system works by using pedestrians’ weight to compress electromagnetic generators, producing two to four joules of off-grid electrical energy per step. The technology was invented by Loughborough industrial technology and design graduate Laurence Kemball-Cook, who developed the first Pavegen flooring tile with money from a Royal Society of Arts Student Design Award. The company has worked on projects with Google, BNP Paribas and Adidas.
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Source: Guardian