In recent years, Japan has begun producing electricity from people walking in cities across the country. Large urban centers have begun installing piezoelectric tiles to generate electricity from foot traffic, and the whole world is watching whether engineers have found the holy grail of renewable energy.
Japan’s energy-generating tiles rely on the power produced from people walking, through the use of piezoelectricity. The piezoelectric effect occurs when specific materials generate electricity when under mechanical stress. The discovery goes to French physicists Jacques and Pierre Curie in 1880, who found that certain crystals, ceramics, and polymers create a small electric current under pressure.
For over a century, piezoelectricity has been used for a variety of purposes, but no one has ever successfully turned it into a large source of power. Yet, in 2008, engineers installed a stretch of tiles in Tokyo’s Shibuya subway station that brought back real results. These piezoelectric tiles were originally just a showcase of the technology which lit up a LED display, but rapidly became popular in local topics regarding public infrastructure.
Experts are mixed on whether piezoelectric tiles are a real option for the future of power. They provide a variety of benefits; they’re clean and renewable, have low operating costs, and promote public awareness of transitioning to clean energy. However, drawbacks like high installation costs, long-period maintenance, and a low potential of energy prevent piezoelectric tiles from becoming a key contributor of the grid.
Realistically, piezoelectric tiles won’t power everyone’s home in a decade, but they’ll still leave a mark on how people design infrastructure. They may become commonplace in high traffic areas of public works, like subway stations, airports, and shopping malls to lower utility costs of large facilities. The US would likely not adopt the use of piezoelectric tiles as wide as Japan has, since the states have a much smaller population density than Japan’s urban masses.
Many people may have recently learned about this technological innovation from the trends of social media. The headline has appeared all across the internet from descriptions of social media posts, turning this story into an online sensation. It’s important to note that the potential use of piezoelectric tiles doesn’t match the internet buzz surrounding the story, so be wary of the hype causing people to overestimate the profoundness of the invention.
