Harvesting Kinetic Energy

Getting your automobile moving takes a considerable amount of energy - - but bringing it to a stop results in the dissipation of energy.  The engineers who designed hybrid gas-electric cars figured this out and came up with a way to recover some of the energy lost in braking and convert it to electricity to recharge the hybrid's batteries.

What about something like this on a larger scale that utilizes the same ideas - - like turning the highway into a harvester of kinetic energy?  One company, Highway Energy Systems Ltd., has developed an energy-harvesting device and installed it at several sites, including airport parking garages and warehouse parking lots.  The device uses moving plates that when depressed by braking vehicles use magnates to spin a generator producing electricity - - a built-in flyweel helps maintain a constant power level.

The location is important - - one potential problem with the system is that it can lower the efficiency of the automobile.  As a result, engineers and developers intend to install them in places where vehicles are already slowing down.  This includes sites such as freeway off ramps, parking lots and drive-through lanes at fast food restaurants.  Highway Energy Systems expects to have 250 of the systems installed by this summer generating between 32 and 42 kilowatts an hour in continual traffic.

Energy independence and new renewable sources is not a quest for the silver bullet - - it is a broad quest for thousands of silver BBs.