Highway Generated Energy

I have been thinking? of a way to extract the heat from the road surface that does not intrude into the existing structures. I think the subject has already been mentioned, but the concept goes like this. On one side of the road you have a fan, and a distribution bus running along the road side blowing a mild quantity of air across the road surface, this warm air would then enter a under cover area, from there it would be funnelled into a tower housing a generator, this system is already up and running, but as to whether this is an improvement I don't know, the only argument I can think of is site requirements would not be as critical? The under cover area should not be a hindrance to highway users and readily accessible.

Regards JD.

Just googled up some figures on convection towers, 25000 sq meters per 50 kw, 50 km or just over 30 miles per MW, 10m wide road, not very economic.

Regards JD.

What about reversing the idea and getting energy from the road into the car? I have seen a scale model. First cut a groove in each lane, remove cars' engines and use an electric motor, then have trailing pick-up wires in contact with bus bars either side of the groove. And you wouldn't waste energy in traffic jams.

Something like a train?

ha ha, yes I was actually thinking of scalextrix (or however you spell it) slot cars, but I did indeed describe a train

Hi, HUX!

Your own personal trolley car!

Mark

As long as your not running the controller to my slot car.

Hmm could make a swing out arm to collect power off of the other lanes also.

Brad

What about changing lanes?

Good idea. However you might wish to consider magnetic induction instead of wires trailing onto the road , thereby avoiding any actual contact with the road and wear and tear on your pick up system. Batteries could be used to start the vehicle. The system would not be perfect of course: a cloudy windless day would strand a few vehicles on the road; those drivers who did not charge up their batteries the night before.

Regards Dragon

Further to Dragonsfarm's comment:

Overcoming some obstacles in magnetic induction-supported travel could allow the planting of parks and gardens to replace pavement on the roadways:

• A magnetic induction system powerful enough to raise the vehicles a good distance off the road.
• A propulsion system located mainly in the roadways if weight consideration of MI vehicles can be lowered by provision of just sufficient generation to keep the super magnets in operation. (A place where a small 'magnetic motor' might come in handy! ).
• External control over speed and route choices, possibly run via satellite-based controllers (changing lanes no longer a problem) responding to destination request by the user.

Of interest might be the vanished (without fanfare) secret research done by the Canadian Armed Forces in the 1950's and 60's on manned flying craft lifting against the earth's own magnetic properties.

Mark

_{Dragonsfarm...great handle: Cadmus, the alphabet & technical knowledge, etc. Do you have a partner named Loki?}

Back in the late 1970s, this guy I worked with commented, "why can't they put some kind of device in the road that would generate power when a vehicle rolls over it? That could be used to power up the highway signs." Now I notice that when I am on the interstates, there are some kind of device in the roadway near overhead signs. Is this a piezo-electric device doing what my friend suggested thirty years ago? Maybe charging batteries, eh?

All these negative comments about not utilizing something like this because we are burning fuel is preposterous. Cars and trucks are going to be on the road until there is no more fuel. We cannot survive otherwise. Our economy would be devastated.