Alternative Energy Forums

I am not a scientist, but I am interested in the science of recapturing lost energy from everyday sources. I have an idea which I am convinced has merit, but I do not possess the know how to make it a reality. My idea may not even be original, but here goes. I have observed the mass of motor vehicles traveling along our inter and intra state highway systems. It is obvious the amount of lost energy expended into the air along these byways. Is it possible to put some system under the asphalt highways which would capture the energy of passing trucks and autos which, compress the substrate of the highway, millions of times per minute, and somehow convert that to electricity which could be transfered to the power lines which already follow the path of the same highways in most areas. (A portion of the cost could be offset by virtue of the fact that these asphalt highways are resurfaced every few years anyway.) In any event, I am thinking of small generators which would transfer the energy directly into our power grid. I believe someone out there will read this and have some ideas. Please respond if you please.

John In Ormond Beach, Florida.

I agree with you about this idea and would have never thought about it. What a unique idea! I am also not a scientist and can’t help in giving you scientific ideas but I absolutely love the idea of reusing energy and converting it into other forms of energy.

AE LISA

Like a pizzo electric unit( sparker on a BBQ) press it down make a spark.

Terry

While possible and original, I don't believe it would be cost effective. Besides this the amount of give in the substrate would almost certainly cause problems with cracking due to various weight loads.

Ranger

Don’t worry this idea is already in set in motion. not in highways but in parks. the park way will generate energy from foot impacts. I will post the link once I encounter it.

dennisanderton

Just keep in mind that most of the energy would be lost anyway. Basically all the fuel used to run a car on a level expressway turns to heat. Your proposing capturing some of it back. I think it would be a minuscule percentage. Sorry to be so negative. I think the answer is in a nuclear grid, ultralights, and electric motorcycles, or small electric cars. We should have eliminated oil as an issue years ago.

bertus

The efficiency of the car would be reduced by the compression of the asphalt. You would produce electricity at the expense of lost gas mileage. This idea has no merit.

danaap

I think its an interesting idea and although we don't have the technology/creativity to use it immediately that doesn't mean we should dismiss it out of hand. A lot of energy is used moving vehicles and most of it - even it it's an electric engine - is wasted. We should keep an open mind about possibly being able to recover some of that energy.

JakeR

You could recapture energy in any vehicle using an internal combustion engine, by using thermopiles. The heat energy of the exhaust gas is normally lost. Thermopiles are fairly expensive now, because they aren't in demand(production costs would drop with volume). They would work especially well with hybrids, where you could feed the D.C. power back to help charge the battery back, and increase overall efficiency. The new ones use semiconductors, and are much more efficient than they use to be.

solarcook

Solarcook, you've given me something to look up. I have to show my ignorance and admit that I had never heard of thermopiles. I gather from your post that they convert heat to DC electric. Interesting idea.

JakeR

To Solarcook & JakeR

Thermopiles are short for Thermoelectric Devices: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermopile

Nflight

I have been considering this concept for quite some time. My suggestion is to use the weight of the vehicle to activate hydraulic piston pumps, creating pressure to turn hydraulic motors. These motors can spin turbines under ground. I disagree with one poster who suggests this will decrease fuel economy. We are simply using the weight of the vehicle to move a panel downward. Hydraulic pressure can also be stored to a certain degree, possibly used to start the turbine spinning before peak traffic starts. I suggest these panels would be placed where slow speeds and bottle necks occur, such as when the driver is pulling away from a toll both. This would also be helpful, as passenger cars and light trucks could be routed to a different set of panels than say, heavier over the road trucks, which would be capable of producing even more pressure. Keep in mind, there are very few passenger cars that weigh less than 3000 lbs, and most are far heavier. I am not an engineer, but I do purchasing for a hydraulic manufacturer/distributer, and have seen the use of hydraulic pumps/motors in all sorts of applications that appear to be far more complex than this. Once the equipment is in place, this is nearly free energy, located in areas that can use it most, at peak usage times, without the need to store electrical energy for great periods of time. Let me know what you think. I can send rough drawings of my ideas. Thanks.

Rkonrad