Converting footsteps to usable electricity.

Going green with flooring as new technique converts footsteps to usable energy. A simple method developed by University of Wisconsin-Madison materials engineers that allows them to convert footsteps into usable electricity. A new study published in the journal Nano Energy, highlights the work of Xudong Wang, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at UW-Madison, his graduate student Chunhua Yao, and their collaborators. The method puts to good use a common waste material: wood pulp. The pulp, which is already a common component of flooring, is partly made of cellulose nanofibers. They're tiny fibers that, when chemically treated, produce an electrical charge when they come into contact with untreated nanofibers. When the nanofibers are embedded within flooring, they're able to produce electricity that can be harnessed to power lights or charge batteries, the wood pulp is a cheap, abundant and renewable waste product of several industries, flooring that incorporates the new technology could be as affordable as conventional materials. The UW-Madison team's advance is the latest in a green energy research field called "roadside energy harvesting", which requires thinking about the places where there is abundant energy that could be harvesting easily.Heavy traffic floors in hallways and places like stadiums and malls that incorporate the technology could produce significant amounts of energy if properly harnessed.