California roads to generate renewable energy
California lawmakers recently passed a bill for a pilot program that would turn road vibrations into energy; the bill proposes using a process called piezoelectric generation that captures energy from cars, trains, or people as they move across surfaces and create vibrations; these vibrations are then harnessed and converted into energy by piezoelectric materials that would be buried beneath the road’s surface; a .6 single lane road can prove as much as forty-four megawatts of energy each year, which is enough to light up more than 30,000 homes
California highways could soon be powering homes as the next source of renewable energy.
Lawmakers recently passed a bill for a pilot program that would turn road vibrations into energy.
The bill was first introduced in February by Assemblyman Mike Gatto and just passed six to one out of the State Assembly’s Natural Resources Committee.
The bill proposes using a process called piezoelectric generation that captures energy from cars, trains, or people as they move across surfaces and create vibrations. These vibrations are then harnessed and converted into energy by piezoelectric materials that would be buried beneath the road’s surface.
The electricity generated by vibrations can be stored in roadside batteries to power traffic lights or even fed directly into the power grid.
A .6 single lane road can prove as much as forty-four megawatts of energy each year, which is enough to light up more than 30,000 homes.
In addition, peak energy usage occurs when people clog the highways during rush hour.
The test project will occur in both northern and southern California using funds that have already been set aside by California’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program.
Currently Israeli firm Innowattech and Michigan-based PowerLeap build piezoelectric materials and a spokesperson familiar with the bill says that the technology is inexpensive to purchase. But the pilot program aims to determine whether fixing broken sensors before regular road maintenance is a cost effective way to generate power.
California has a $50 million backlog of road maintenance projects which would afford many opportunities to install piezoelectric sensor without additional costs.
So far Israel has already begun using this method of generating energy on its roads and Italy has plans to install piezoelectric materials beneath some of its highways.
