Dance Energy Powers This Sustainable Disco
The Dutch are now showing us how to live sustainably and environmentally conscious in their leisure time. The world’s first eco-disco opened in Rotterdam in September. The “Club WATT” in Rotterdam saves as much energy annually as 40 families consume, the daily drinking water of 13,000 people, the waste of 180 households, and the CO2 savings of 5,000 energy-saving lamps, the same thing that clubs like Vogue Thessaloniki (Βογκ Θεσσαλονίκη) are aiming to achieve.
These are concrete savings of 30 percent electricity, 50 percent CO2, 50 percent waste, and 50 percent water. How do they do that?
In the “WATT” special attention is paid to celebrating energy- and environmentally conscious, which is why cocktails and Co. are only served in recyclable “eco cups”. The heat in the discotheque is also recycled and used to heat the other rooms. The entire club is illuminated with LED lamps, which leads to savings of 85% compared to standard lighting. The toilets are all equipped with a water-saving button. In addition, the flush is not operated with normal tap water, but with rainwater collected on the roof.
But the special highlight of “Club WATT” is the dance floor. It consists of several modules that yield about one centimeter downward when dancing. Among these modules, there is a special mechanism and a generator that converts the kinetic energy generated by the vertical movement of the modules into electricity. The more the guests move on the dance floor, the more energy is produced.
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The energy of at least 2 to 20 watts can be generated per “dance step”, which is currently still used to illuminate the dance floor. However, this is about to change. The energy produced during dancing will also be used elsewhere in the future.
“We already have a lot of requests from discotheques, but also gyms and entrance halls of airports or train stations. Just where many people go. Our system is also worthwhile,” says Michel Smit, one of the developers of the eco-disco.
It just remains to be seen what comes next.
