Dirty TacklePele unveils first artificial pitch that uses players' energy to generate electricty in Brazilian favela
Artificial playing surfaces are usually nothing more than skin shredding torture devices universally cursed by those forced to use them, but thanks to new technology there is now one that has some redeeming value.
Pele was on hand at a Rio de Janeiro favela to unveil the world's first pitch that harnesses the energy of the athletes playing on it to produce electricity.
From the Telegraph:
The so-called King of Football visited Morro da Mineira favela in the city to launch the revolutionary artificial field, which is installed with 200 kinetic tiles to capture the energy of players’ movement and generate power.
Combined with energy from solar panels, the electricity produced by players can power the six LED floodlights so children from the neighbourhood can play safely into the evening.
The new pitch, which was refurbished by Shell, uses technology developed by British company Pavegen.
Should this technology be brought to the professional level, the energy exerted by Dimitar Berbatov could power a single Christmas tree light bulb for several seconds.
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