Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on April 2014

What if our footsteps could create energy? And what if this energy could go, in some small way, toward powering a train station? What if the energy saved could go toward running something else, and little by little Tokyo could become greener?

We think piezoelectric tiles are the future.

We are students from Yokohama International School (YIS) in the grade 10 Individuals and Societies class. This project started when our teacher asked us to find a way to create renewable energy in Japan.

We began by looking at different types of renewable energy. Many students wanted to focus on wind and geothermal power. However, we wanted to move away from typical “green” sources and find a unique way of producing energy. We discovered piezoelectric energy floor tiles from Pavegen Systems Ltd., a company in London. These tiles harvest energy directly from footsteps.

Pavegen has had a wide range of success working with public projects. Its tiles were installed at the London 2012 Summer Olympics to power LED lights using the energy created from the footsteps of visitors to the Games. As Tokyo has such a large population—and plenty of foot traffic— we believe these tiles present a great opportunity.

Most large-scale renewable energy projects are funded and managed by governments or large corporations, and are essentially out of sight and out of mind for the general public. With the piezoelectricity tiles, average consumers can create energy by themselves. When a tile is stepped on, it quickly turns a small cog that reverses as the foot is lifted and the tile returns to its original height. As these cogs move, they generate a small electrical charge, which can then be stored in a battery. While each individual tile does not create that much electricity (presently 7 Watts per footstep at most), together, several tiles can power many things. This simple idea for hands-on power generation doesn’t just provide renewable energy, it also reminds us that we can make the change ourselves.

Our team contacted Shun Shindo, the distributor of Pavegen Systems in Japan and a representative of Asaboh Corporation. After listening to our queries and discussing the project with us at YIS, Mr. Shindo and our team began to look at areas in the Tokyo/Yokohama area where we could install the tiles.

They need to be placed in an area with large numbers of people coming through each day. One idea was to place them in popular supermarkets such as National Azabu in Hiroo and Union in Motomachi. After looking at the supermarkets, however, we realized that we wanted a place with an even greater amount of daily traffic to create even more energy. In a moment of true ingenuity, one classmate suggested Shinjuku station. From the corner of the room came another idea—this time it was Tokyo station. Then another—Yokohama station. The list went on and on.

After looking at specific stations in the Kanto area, we decided that Shibuya station would be the ideal site. Shibuya station is huge, with dozens of ticket gates and hundreds of thousands of commuters each day.

Our idea is to insert three tiles in the middle of the ticket gates. While JR East, Tokyo Metro and private railway lines all use the station, we chose to focus on the JR East part of the station—which has 55 ticket gates in that area alone—and we are in the process of contacting JR to pitch our idea.

Installing piezoelectric tiles in Shibuya station would raise awareness of renewable energy in Japan, and create a learning opportunity. It will not only contribute to powering the station in an eco-friendly way, but also remind people every day of how they can help save Mother Earth, one footstep at a time.

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