New Yorkers got a taste of a new energy future today at the first reveal of a unique food truck which invites customers to ‘Jump for Your Lunch’ and convert the power of their footsteps into payment. Download a hi-res photo from the event here.
THE NEW ‘POWER LUNCH’? FIRST FOOD TRUCK WHERE CUSTOMERS PAY WITH THEIR FOOTSTEPS OFFERS A TASTE OF A NEW ENERGY FUTURE
Tuesday 24 October 2017: New Yorkers got a taste of a new energy future today at the first reveal of a unique food truck which invites customers to ‘Jump for Your Lunch’ and convert the power of their footsteps into payment.
The Shell Synergy Truck’s kinetic tile walkway is just one of six new energy technologies that enable the truck to take power from customers or the natural world around it to fuel its kitchen – from wind and solar capture, to recycled waste from coffee and cooking oil.
The Synergy Truck is a product of the latest collaboration in the Shell #makethefuture campaign with contributions from college students from across the US and Europe, who were challenged to re-imagine every aspect of the food truck experience, from lighting to waste management, using the six new energy technologies supported by the campaign.
Working together, these technologies help sustainably power the kitchen:
- A Pavegen walkway generates visual data about the energy potential of consumers’ footsteps as they order their food
- Two GravityLights outside generate light for customers from the power of gravity
- Two Insolar umbrellas use solar technology to charge phones and USB devices, while solar roof panels help power the kitchen appliances
- A Capture Mobility roof-top turbine uses wind energy to help power the kitchen
- A bio-bean grill unit uses carbon neutral Coffee Log briquettes and a bio-bean capture unit indicates the potential energy of the coffee waste collected
- A MotionECO capture unit indicates the potential energy of the waste cooking oil collected.
“What better way to get people engaged in the global energy challenge than by tapping into a universal passion—food,” says Malena Cutuli, who leads the Shell #makethefuture campaign. “Food trucks are now a staple of city streets all over the world, and the Synergy Truck can engage people in new energy solutions in a way that’s real and exciting. We hope it will serve a more interesting lunch experience, and one that gets the world thinking differently about how we all use energy.”
LA celebrity chef Ludo Lefebvre mentored the students and created the menu for the truck’s US launch, which includes a college tour and three-day pop-up in New York City, before the Synergy Truck is handed to a social enterprise.
He said, “This just might be the world’s coolest food truck – the Synergy Truck is a clean technology kitchen on wheels that fuses great food and innovative new energy solutions, and I hope it shows people that the energy challenge is something we can all play a role in addressing.”
The Shell Synergy Truck is at 237 Park Avenue, New York, Tuesday 24 – Thursday 26 October
- IMAGES: Photography of the Shell Synergy Truck and ‘Jump for Your Lunch’ moments is available
- VIDEO: A film on the Shell Synergy Truck is here
- INTERVIEWS: Malena Cutuli, Global Head of Integrated Brand Communications and Capability, Shell, is available for interview
24 October 2017
