With the whole world looking for alternatives to reverse the effects of climate change as much as they can, a similar initiative by a sporting arena was inevitable. A new football pitch that opened in the last month of 2015 in Lagos, Nigeria, employs kinetic energy to generate power. This football pitch has special tiles spread all over, that is capable of utilizing the kinetic energy of players running on the field. There couldn’t have been a better-timed match, considering the historic Paris Climate meet concluded recently, and the love of the people of Nigeria for football.
Pavegen founder Laurence Kemball-Cook is over the moon. (Photo:AFP)
The pitch includes over 90 tiles under the pitch to capture the running player’s kinetic energy. Each tile can produce up to 7 watts of power per footstep. The lighting spread over this stadium is a part of a project at the Federal College of Education in Akola, developed by British company Pavegen. The project, backed by Pavegen’s founder Laurence Kemball-Cook, is also supported by one of the world’s top oil companies, Shell.
The kinetic energy generated by running athletes is assisted by solar panels, a combination that generates enough electricity to light the stadium’s floodlights.
