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CASE STUDY
Japanese commuters power electricity-generating oor
The stories
Outcomes
For several years, Professor Yoshiyasu Takefuji of Keio University had the idea of harnessing the energy generated when millions of passengers walk through Japan’s railway stations on a daily basis.
Currently there is great interest in stories relating to the environment and this was no exception. It achieved coverage for Keio University in specialist publications outside Japan, thus raising awareness of both the University and the industrial partners, Japan Rail East. The coverage prompted a private consultancy company to contact Keio University about using the product at US retail stores.
When he met with the president of JR East, the railway company agreed to sponsor the research and an academicindustrial alliance was formed. One of the first ideas to be researched was that of the electricity-generating floor. Professor Takefuji and his team have demonstrated this concept with prototypes installed at Tokyo station.
ResearchSEA’s successful promotion ResearchSEA distributed the story to a number of specialist publications aimed at the railway industry. As a result the story achieved a doublepage spread in the French international rail news magazine Le Rail focusing on how the energy generated by passengers’ footsteps could be used to power turnstiles and ticket machines. Canada’s L’Actualité magazine also featured the article in their New Energies issue.
www.researchsea.com
CASE STUDY
Japanese commuters power electricity-generating floor