Scientists in Israel have apparently been hard at work engineering a stretch of road with embedded piezoelectric crystals, that will generate electricity from cars rolling across its surface. The road will be unveiled in a few weeks by Israeli company, Innowattech.
The technology is similar to that used in Japan recently to generate energy from pedestrian footsteps. The 100m stretch of road is expected to generate significant amounts of electricity as the weight of moving vehicles squeeze the tiny piezoelectric crystals in the surface. This squeezing creates an electric charge which can be sent to the grid or used for lighting.
Piezoelectric materials, crystals and ceramics, have the ability to generate a small electric potential when they are subjected to mechanical stress, which makes them suitable for a variety of applications, from harnessing sounds to producing electricity. Piezoelectric concepts include the use of these small devices to capture sound waves from cell phones and convert them into current to feed the battery. This would basically create a self-powering device that would never need refueling.
It has been estimated that if this technology were implemented across Britain, it would generate enough electricity to power 34,500 of the nation’s small cars. The Director of the British Environmental Transport Association (ETA) even envisions “certain vehicles [that] could be powered entirely by the roads on which they drive.” Though plausible, you just know that’ll never happen unless there’s also some way to charge for it.
It has been estimated that if this technology were implemented across Britain, it would generate enough electricity to power 34,500 of the nation’s small cars. The Director of the British Environmental Transport Association (ETA) even envisions “certain vehicles [that] could be powered entirely by the roads on which they drive.” Though plausible, you just know that’ll never happen unless there’s also some way to charge for it.
I wonder how the technology of this nature would function in the United States. Could you imagine our electricity problems being taken care of by something as unique as this, long term wise. There wouldn't be any further worries about using nuclear power plants to generate electricity, since there's always a concern of the proper disposal of nuclear waste in this country. Perhaps it's time the u.s.a. takes notes from its european allies when it comes to new technology such as this. With the weight of most european cars being lighter than american cars, would that play a factor in terms of how the technology operated.
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