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This is a pretty fun idea to think about. Does the energy from the animal that walks on the wood cost the animal extra energy or does the energy come from the efficiency loss from walking (whatever that means?)?

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Presumably the energy that would normally go into deforming the wood is converted to electricity. The wood would spring back less or be less warm or make less sound, etc.

It's also possible that the wood deforms more requiring the walker to expend more energy.

I think it's an interesting thought experiment. How would we measure it?

work= energy = force x distance (integrated if force is variable).

Stick a load cell on a linear slide, measure accordingly.

Drop a ball, slow-mo camera to measure bounce, mic to measure sound, infrared to measure heat....BUT the energy amounts were talking about are very small.

>cost the animal extra energy

short version: yes

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