Yet Another Pie-In-The-Sky Free Energy Farce

[john hobdeclipe]

Can these people really be serious?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1129101759.htm

[randyjaco]

John,
It is plausible, but here are going to be a lot of gotchas. I'd like to hear more about it. One thing is for sure, It ain't gonna be free. It is going to cost somebody

Randy

[velocette]

Can these people really be serious?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1129101759.htm

Depends on the amount of illegal substance from south of the border you have consumed as to how successful it looks.

Plausible but not very cost effective

[Mike Nash]

It is going to cost somebody

The energy has to come from the vehicles which translates to lower fuel efficiency and greater pollution. Never mind the washboard effect. Anyone that ever tried one of those bike headlights that had a generator rubbing against the tire knows it sure wasn't "free" energy.

[goose]

I find it an intriguing idea. Use the weight and kinetic energy of moving objects to generate compressed air. Of course, in practice most likely would not work as an economically effective source of energy. The infrastructure costs would be enormous, as well as maintenance costs. Highway "hum" would become, what, with millions of tiny air compressors firing continually? The pedestrian concept sounds like a trip and fall hazard.

[The Artful Bodger]

If a system could be arranged to capture the energy released by braking traffic going down hill or approaching a red light (two examples) that would cost nothing in fuel consumption and would save wear on vehicle brakes while releasing energy to be used for some useful purpose. So the idea is not totally daft.

[Paul Alciatore]

I have to agree with Mike. The energy comes from the vehicles so every driver that rolls over on of the ramps will be using just a bit more gas. It transfers the cost of generating the energy to the drivers. It would be more efficient to just add a cent or two to the gasoline tax and use that money to build and fuel generating plants that would be a lot more efficient than the autos and this Rube Goldberg mechanism to extract some of the energy that the cars generate.

Spending the money to improve the roads will increase the efficiency of the autos and save in the cost of energy used by them. Rough roads or potholes all require more energy to move a vehicle over them than smooth, well maintained ones. Again, the money saved would be better used in an efficient generating plant.

Jeees, I hope the tree hugers don't see that idea. We'll be wasting billions and billions on it.

As for extracting the energy while braking, that has been done, but in the vehicles, not in the road. It seems to be a lot more practical and probably more efficient that way. I mean, how would you transmit that energy to the road?

[A.K. Boomer]

Right there's no mention of using it at stops and such,,, just installing more of them where traffic is slow to reap the same rewards, not to mention using about the lowest efficiency form of return energy one can possibly think of - compressed air...


and talk about infrastructure - lot's to installing and lots to consistently wear out,,,

bottom line ---- never trust a man who's name is " Héctor Ricardo Macيas Hernلndez"

[Willy]

It's Mexico for crying out loud. What's wrong with solar panels?

[loose nut]

It's not even new, they where messing around with that in Britain a few years back.

[J Tiers]

It's basically stealing. Plain old theft.

We steal so little from each person that they will never complain, but if we do it enough, it adds up.

Every impact wears the tires, the suspension, and takes a little extra energy from the vehicles, energy that you paid for at the gas pump. But so little that *you* won't notice just one or two.

if the city streets were peppered with these things, then it would be an issue, for sure.

I'd happily accept a penny per $10,000 from every person ("person" now includes corporate entities) in the state..... And that would be about the same level of theft if I did it by some form of computer manipulation.

[The Artful Bodger]

As for extracting the energy while braking, that has been done, but in the vehicles, not in the road. It seems to be a lot more practical and probably more efficient that way. I mean, how would you transmit that energy to the road?

Anything that takes energy from a passing vehicle tends to slow the vehicle.

[The Artful Bodger]

It's basically stealing. Plain old theft.

Not if it was used to extract energy from vehicles going down a hill or braking to a stop. In those cases the vehicle owner/operator would get a bonus in reduced brake wear.

[A.K. Boomer]

hah, not if your a Prius driver,,, you would be cursing them for the lack of battery charge and the more money at the pump...

[Willy]

I have to ask, what would be the time frame for a return on investment for such a left handed way of obtaining this "free" energy?
The associated maintenance costs alone would be staggering for the energy recouped never mind the initial infrastructure costs.
May as well put little propellers on the side of the road in order to catch the wind from passing traffic and convert it into even more "free" energy.