Friday, December 19, 2008

Not that they aren't cool, mind you

From the Daily Mail:
We are told that driving alone in our cars is a waste of our dwindling fuel supplies.

But scientists now claim they have developed a way to use the movement of cars along a street to generate electricity.

And, to prove it, they will be opening the world's first road of its kind next month.

The scientists in Israel say that cars travelling along a mile length of asphalt could generate more than 640 kilowatts - enough power to run 12 small cars.
An Israeli company is building an experimental 100-meter stretch of roadway that will generate electricity via the piezoelectric effect.

I've always thought this effect could be exploited much more than it has been, and probably produce something much more practical than shoes with flashing lights.

2 comments:

  1. It sounds good in theory, but like a lot of others the reality is probably the killer.
    I know there are no moving parts, but how will being exposed to weather, traffic, snow plows, de-icing chemicals, etc. affect them?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm sure they will have problems, but there's no other way to figure out how to make it work than to do it and then see what happens.

    ReplyDelete