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People Power: How Walking Can Light Up a City

Company creates pavement that captures the energy of footsteps.

Earlier this year Government Technology reported on Germany-based EnOcean's efforts to create building materials that capture movements, such as vibrations, and transform that kinectic energy into electricity. Now, a company called Pavegen aims to take that technology to the street by capturing the energy created by people walking around.

As CNN reports, Pavegen will install 20 energy-harvesting tiles at the 2012 London Olympic Games. The company says the energy collected from foot traffic ought to be enough to power half of the outdoor lighting adjacent to the tiles.

To see how the technology works, watch the video below.