Cool Technology of the Week

In a world focused on green energy, conservation, and working more efficiently, why do we run escalators when no one is using them?

In Japan, they do not.

Above is a video from the Narita airport near Tokyo which shows the escalators to the gates.   They run at a very slow speed, just enough to overcome the inertia of starting them up.   When a passenger walks near the escalator platform, the rate increases and the escalator runs at full speed until 30 seconds after the passenger leaves the escalator.  Here's a link to another example from the Seoul airport.

The end result is that energy is only expended when its needed.

It's this kind of creative thinking - using energy only when its needed - that defines our green power future.

On demand escalators - that's cool.

That's cool!