How every step we take could soon help tackle those eyewatering fuel bills

It may take a bit of legwork from householders, but Scottish researchers believe they have figured out how to effectively convert the power of every step we take to help drive down home energy bills.

Technology is being developed to create a super thin matting which, when placed on floors and under household carpets can capture the energy of each step.

And once harnessed, the energy from just walking around the house can be accumulated and stored until there is enough to power everyday household items, from lightbulbs to television sets.

The technology – said to be only a few years away from becoming commercially available - means the more we move off the couch and keep active at home, the more potential energy can be made to eventually power our homes.

The concept of harnessing human kinetic energy is not new: paving slabs that converted energy from footsteps to power appliances was used during the 2012 London Olympics.

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However, finding an efficient way to capture it using triboelectric nanogenerators - energy generators known as a TENG - on a significant and commercially viable scale to power electronic devices, sensors and even power-hungry items such as electric cars and drones has been hampered by low durability, limited energy output and inefficiency.

Now Stirling-based tech company, Integrated Graphene, says it is the first in the world to come up with a product based on wonder material graphene, which can help solve the problem.

Graphene is stronger than steel yet lightweight, flexible and one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair. But while electrically and thermally conductive, it is difficult to produce at scale.

However, Integrated Graphene has developed a revolutionary 3D graphene foam, Gii™, which it has now tested as an active layer in a TENG.

The study carried out with scientists from the University of the West of Scotland’s Institute of Thin Films, Sensors and Imaging (ITFSI) and now published in ScienceDirect, shows the force of a human footprint on a pressure-sensitive mat equipped with the innovative Gii-TENG sensors can produce enough energy to anonymously identify people entering or leaving a room.

UWS self-powered pressure mat (Image: UWS)

That has raised the prospect of it being used as a low-cost, easily scalable, and energy-efficient solution to monitoring building occupancy, and to provide data to help smart devices optimize energy resources by controlling room temperature upon entrance or exit.

The study suggests that could be of particular interest to schools and universities which could link the measurement of room occupancy to a ventilation system and a CO2 monitor.

They could then take steps to reduce the volume of CO2, which has been shown to reduce the ability to focus.

It also raises the prospect of ‘smart’ homes and workplaces of the near future being fitted with the innovative matting, and the energy created by simply walking around captured and put to use.

It could also be used to harvest energy from activities such as golf, running and tennis to power smart devices which generate performance data, and for wearable biosensors used in the early diagnosis of health conditions including cardiovascular disease, gout and diabetes.

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While on a larger scale, the technology could be used on roads to harvest energy from cars and on pavements, so pedestrians can produce the power required to fuel surrounding smart devices linked to the so-called Internet of Things.

Such devices and sensors, many on an ultra-tiny scale, are becoming commonplace across healthcare, mobile technology, navigation, automobiles, smart buildings and manufacturing.

While they share data that can lead to smarter use of energy, such as monitoring a building’s temperature, humidity, water quality and occupancy levels, the number of such devices are expected to soar from 10 billion today to 100 billion by 2030.

It means finding new power solutions to fuel them that don’t rely on wires or batteries – and potentially harness human energy - is considered crucial.

While the graphene marketplace alone is estimated to grow to $1 trillion by 2030.

Marco Caffio, CSO, Integrated Graphene said: “The possibilities of Gii-TENG are endless, with the potential to push the limits of technology beyond human expectations.

“There are multiple uses; one is in smart homes that are capable of monitoring environmental conditions such as whether there is more CO2 in the environment, if the windows are open, if air conditioners need to be increased or decreased - in general making the house more energy efficient and more comfortable.

Marco Caffio, CSO, Integrated Graphene (Image: Integrated Graphene)

“Another application is healthcare sector where we can monitor what are the best conditions for elderly people to be comfortable in care homes.

“But the main advantage is it is self-powered, so you don’t need to plug the device into the mains or use a battery.

“One option is we can put it under a carpet or floors so when an individual walks, they generate energy which can be used for the monitoring system, or they can save the energy in a battery or a fuel cell to use for other purposes.”

He said such a system could generate 10 watts of energy per square meter.

In a busy environment, he said the simple action of walking would become an energy source to power items such as lights, televisions and monitors.

“It will keep us fit,” he added.

He added: “There is a clear need for new sustainable energy sources and technologies which can meet the power demand from our reliance on technology for work, life and play.

“Our Gii-TENG platform could potentially prevent the constant replacement of batteries in trillions of devices, and reduce the utilisation of wires, making the IoT technology of the near future to be wireless and energy autonomous.”

Dr Carlos Garcia Nuñez, Lecturer, School of Computing, Engineering and Physical Sciences (CEPS), UWS, said: “Through our work with Integrated Graphene, we have proven that using Gii-material as an active layer in triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) can work as a reliable and cost-effective energy harvesting power source for autonomous sensors and electronics.

“This discovery has enormous potential for the booming global Internet of Things (IoT) industry.

“Given the global need for alternative sources of green energy, Gii-TENGs can potentially provide a sustainable source of power for the multitude of small electronic devices which we use in our everyday lives, bringing us one step closer to realising a greener and more energy-abundant future.”