== Unreliable data from reliable sources == 

 The figures don't stack up. Reality is less than 1% of the claimed effectiveness. 

 Body weight = 70kg x 10gravity = 700 Newtons 
 5mm travel 
 3.5 Joules per step 

 3.5 Joules lighting a streetlamp for 30 seconds ? 
 Philips Fortimo LED streetlights consume ~30 Watts 
 3.5 Joules will last about a tenth of a second. 

 The CNN Article 
 * "250,000 footsteps  that was enough to charge 10,000 mobile phones," said Kemball-Cook 
 So 25 footsteps per phone = 87.5 Joules. 
 A typical mobile phone battery is 3.6V 900mAh = 3.24 Wh = 3.24 x 60 minutes x 60 seconds = 11664 Joules 

 I'm tempted to delete the whole article as marketing BS !