(Photo: WMATA)

Researchers have achieved some success in tapping human energy-producing potential. Attach an exercise bike to a generator and a cyclist can power a television set; incorporate photovoltaic panels into clothing or backpacks and any person becomes a walking power plant.

Now researchers aim to tap a still more abundant human power source: footsteps. Each step we take, it turns out, generates 8 watts of energy. Capture the energy from enough of those footsteps — from, say, the 30,000 or more commuters who pass through a busy subway hub at rush hour — and you can power a train station’s lighting and audio equipment.

Next year, the Facility, a British architecture firm, will test the Pacesetter, a prototype energy-harvesting staircase that will use small hydraulic generators embedded in the floor to capture vibration and convert it into electricity. Claire Price, the Facility’s director, recently told Clay Risen of The New York Times Magazine that the firm expects the Pacesetter to harvest 3 to 5 watts of energy with each footstep. The Facility plans to install the energy-harvesting floors as part of a larger effort to revamp London’s South Central subway stations.

The architects at the Facility aren’t the only ones working to harness people power. In August, Wired News reported that JR East, a regional subdivision of the national Japanese railway network, completed a pilot study that used piezo pad flooring to generate electricity. The railway plans to embed piezo crystals in the floor below ticket gates to convert vibration and pressure from footsteps into an electrical charge that is stored and used to help power train stations.

Soon, literally each step we take could move us one step closer to replacing fossil-fuel fired power with renewable energy. Donating my footsteps to a power source that can help prevent climate change seems like a fair trade, but, then again, asks Momus, author of the Wired story, “If I’m powering your train station with my body, shouldn’t I get the occasional free ride?” BART, are you listening?