I seem to remember that it was in high school that we learned the principles of electricity and how to make it. It’s all based on moving parts, like waves in the sea, a windmill, or any kind of continuous movement. The solar energy guys went a different route and they use heat from the sun to make steam which drives a turbine. And then there are photovoltaic’s, those little solar cells that drive a calculator or a watch. There are a few other very esoteric systems as well, none of them really viable and none of them competitive with the price of energy in normal times.

Alternative energy

The sums of money invested in the development of alternative energy are astronomical, frightening in fact. And, as is the case with the supply of all utilities such as gas or water, the infrastructure is expensive.

Look at this idea

Along comes an Israeli energy start-up. It takes a couple of Payday Loans for start-up financing and does nothing less than generate electricity from the rush-hour traffic racing along the highways. Remember how you hate that traffic every day of your life? Well, in this new idea you are just going to love it!

Who’s Innowattech?

Innowattech, an energy company affiliated with Israel’s Technion Institute of Technology, said special generators placed under roads, railways and airport runways can harvest enough energy from passing vehicles to mass-produce electricity.

The generators contain material that produces electricity when mechanical force is applied, such as the pressure from a passing car’s tires.

Piezoelectricity

The process is known as piezoelectricity and has been used for years on a smaller scale, including barbecue lighters and a dance club where the pounding feet of dancers light the floor. The CEO of Innowattech says the company’s technology will be the largest application of piezoelectrics to date, with a single half-mile lane of highway providing enough electricity to power about 40 houses. “We can produce electricity anywhere there is a busy road, using energy that normally goes to waste,” said the CEO.

The first pilot program would begin in the coming months on a 90 foot strip of highway outside Tel Aviv and similar projects could start internationally in 2010.

Of course there are problems

Problems could arise in the implementation and the coordination needed to bury the generators over vast amounts of highways and train tracks. Another hurdle will be finding a way to package the generators so they are effective when buried in the road. The company has already developed a casing that acts like asphalt. The generators are then put in the road in 11 inch squares during scheduled maintenance.

The drivers won’t feel anything. Asphalt is elastic and the pressure of each tire that passes is picked up by the generator, which is buried about an inch below the road’s surface.

Maintenance

The piezoelectric material lasts for at least 30 years, which is longer than most roads and the generators can also be placed in the sleepers, or cross ties, of rail tracks to harvest the energy of trains.

The energy generated is transferred to storage systems that are set up along the road at about every 500 yards. The power can then be fed into a main grid, or even used to charge batteries as part of a future electric car infrastructure.

How come I never thought of this?