--- description: After years of turmoil, U.S. hydropower production is poised to grow by more than 5% in 2016, according to new data. But globally, the renewable energy resource is getting some unexpected competition. title: Offbeat Power Players image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Offbeat Power Players by [Jacob Koffler](/author/jacob-koffler/) ## Jacob Koffler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 6, 2015 9:31 AM CUT by [Jacob Koffler](/author/jacob-koffler/) ## Jacob Koffler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 6, 2015 9:31 AM CUT DANCING Club Watt in Rotterdam uses floor vibrations–generated by people walking and dancing–to power its light system. BODY HEAT The Mall of America in Minneapolis has long relied on human visitors to help warm its corridors, and now London and Paris are piping heat from crowded subway stations into nearby homes. JELLYFISH Scientists in Sweden have harnessed a protein from the glow-in-the-dark Aequorea victoria jellyfish to create miniature fuel cells for electronics and more. HUMAN WASTE Scientists at the University of California at Irvine developed a method for deriving hydrogen from processed sewage, which has been used to power fuel cells for cars. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3987013/offbeat-power-players/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3987013/offbeat-power-players/"},"headline":"Offbeat Power Players","datePublished":"2015-08-06T09:31:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:57:04.805Z","description":"After years of turmoil, U.S. hydropower production is poised to grow by more than 5% in 2016, according to new data. But globally, the renewable energy resource is getting some unexpected competition.","url":"https://time.com/3987013/offbeat-power-players/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jacob Koffler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jacob-koffler/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3987013/offbeat-power-players/","name":"Offbeat Power Players"}}]}] ```