As they make their way up and down the field chasing the ball, the players on this new soccer pitch in Rio de Janeiro are actually helping to keep the lights powered when the sun sets. Because underneath the artificial turf are 200 special tiles that work like tiny generators to harness the kinetic energy of the players and turn it into electricity.
The underground tiles are able to provide about 20 per cent of the power needed to keep the field’s six 280W LED floodlights burning bright, while the rest of the power comes from solar panels around the facility that are charging batteries all day long.
And it’s about time that someone finally found a way to tap into the seemingly endless energy supply known as children. [YouTube via Damn Geeky via BBC]