I don’t often get excited on this blog (I’m usually a grumpy bastard) but I read something the other day that was pretty cool.

There’s a company called Pavegen who are trying to change the world with carpet tiles. Not very exciting, I know, but bear with me.

They recently unveiled their tiles at the Green Glasgow event, which was pretty cool.

The idea is that when people walk on these tiles, energy is generated which could be used to power appliances or electrical equipment like street lights.

Problem is, people are getting the facts wrong. Energy and power are not the same thing.

National Geographic claimed that 20 of these tiles could generate several hundred kilowatts of energy when walked over by the 90 million people who use the Stratford City Mall walkway in London. Pretty impressive, right? Nat Geo claimed it would be enough energy to power half of the mall’s outdoor lightning. *facepalm*.

Even if the mall was using super economical LED lights, it would require at least 900 kilowatts of energy to power ONE of their lights over a year.

I don’t want to shit all over a good idea, because Pavegen are definitely onto something here. But having publications like Nat Geo make ridiculous claims doesn’t help their growth. Baby steps, people.

They’ve got a kickstarter page so go and support them, I guess.