Today, myself and a few colleagues decided to check out how much clog dancing it would take to generate enough energy to light a lightbulb.
We started by interviewing one of the smart energy workers at the Smart Bridge site who explained the reasons behind the smart bridge and what they aim to get out of it throughout the week: Fflur Lawton, Head of Policy and Communications Wales for Smart Energy GB said “Were here showing visitors to the Eisteddfod that smart technology can make energy visible – and help us get it under control.” She also added “What were trying to do is make it clearer to people how much energy they use to power every day items.” 
Next, we questioned Tudur Phillips and he told us “It’s great to be a part of such an exciting campaign making it easier for people to see and understand their energy use. Clog dancing is a high energy activity and you can see how much energy we generate by dancing on the tiles.” We decided to have a go at the challenge, to jump repeatedly over a bandana without letting go of it. The main reason for the bridge is to build as much energy throughout the week, simply by visitors walking or jumping on the kinetic tiles when they enter or leave the festival.
Smart energy GB’s initiative is to raise awareness of how their new meters could effect our homes in a positive way. There is a screen located on one side of the bridge which indicates how much energy visitors and workers have already generated to either power a lightbulb, laptop or charge a mobile phone. They are promoting the smart meters for other companies around the UK and by 2020 aim to offer a smart meter to every home within the UK at no additional cost. Laurence Kemball-Cook, CEO of Pavegon, is the inventor of the energy slabs. He said “This is the first time we’ve demonstrated Pavegon’s technology in Wales and we’re thrilled to be at the National Eisteddfod in Abergavenny. Data from our tiles allows visitors to see how much energy they can generate with their footsteps.”
We may just go back and clog a bit more before the week is out!
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