Annotated Summary

Evans, J. (2015). Energy harvesting through the piezoelectric effect at sports venues. Master thesis, Humboldt University, Berlin. Retrieved from 
http://humboldt-dspace.calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.3/149914/Evans_Julius_D_Su2015.pdf?sequence=1

This article focuses on the possibility of collecting energy from the footsteps of sports fans during a sports event, particularly a football game in the USA, due to the large number of average fans present in games every week, exceeding 65000 (Stadiums of Pro Football, 2014).

The plan was to install piezoelectric tiles across all the entrances of the stadiums, because all the fans will have to walk through them, enabling the maximum number of steps and therefore, maximum energy generated. Using calculations and the best estimates, taking the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas as an example, with an average amount of around 67000 fans a game (NFL Attendance, 2014), the tiles were only able to save about 2.14% of the energy consumption of the stadium.

However, the factor which uses up the most energy is the lighting. In most stadiums, they use high intensity discharge (HID) lighting which consumes a lot of energy. On the other hand, LED powered bulbs will save much more energy. For example, the first NFL stadium to use LED lights were able to save 75% with the switch (Sweetnam, 2015), and kinetic footfall energy was almost able to fully power the stadium lights.

Overall, this article was able to provide valuable information for our research project. For example, one big aspect which this technology can benefit us apart from generating clean energy, is that the public will be able to get directly involved and be aware of clean energy being generated by themselves, and hence, have a stronger influence on the people to be more aware and environmentally conscious. As a result, in the long term, this might help them to make better choices environmentally. It also proves that this technology is capable of being implemented according to our plans in our report as most buildings in Singapore also use LED lighting.

Edited on 02/04/20

Commented on Wai Yan's, Thoufeek's and Zyn's Annotated Summary on 02/04/20