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Wind Turbines Powered by Traffic?

This was an interesting idea, put HAWTs along the highway and use the breeze of passing cars which has a residual wind speed of 12 mph.


Simulations show a 4 mile section of highway would produce 860 MW by adding HAWTs to existing lamp posts. Economics are about 9 min in.
 
Interesting stupid idea.
Thanks for moving your post.
 
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I can see it now ... "We need everyone to go out and drive more, the road turbines aren't making enough power today."
 
So what's the thinking that these are stupid ideas?

For the HAWT UK test where the poles and wiring already exist it seems practical. I didn't see any reason why they shouldn't do a test. The "trucking association" protest doesn't make sense, the HAWTs aren't going to make them any less efficient.

Same for solar roads, if it could be made affordable (e.g., Electrodeposition of perchlorates onto existing road surfaces) with no loss of traction I don't see any issues.

...Thanks for moving your post....
Thanks for letting me know!
 
What exactly is the problem they are trying to solve? Meeting some arbitrary renewable energy target? That is a whole lot of moving parts to make more energy to keep doing other things the same old way. It feels like we should be working harder to cut down on energy use, instead of just inventing more complicated contraptions to generate more energy?

I don't know, it seems like a bit of a Rube Goldberg way of making electricity. What if we just make cars and trucks more efficient?
 
Same for solar roads, if it could be made affordable (e.g., Electrodeposition of perchlorates onto existing road surfaces) with no loss of traction I don't see any issues.

Despite his best efforts, Dave Jones says that solar roads aren't dead yet :)

Solar FREAKIN' Roadways Gets NEW FUNDING!

 
...What exactly is the problem they are trying to solve? ...
Reducing fossil fuel usage at lower LCOEs to reduce everyone's power bills. It would be nice if power was free for residences regardless of how much you used, and businesses paid for their power consumption for the upkeep of the system.

... It feels like we should be working harder to cut down on energy use...
Seems like we're always creating lower consumption devices (e.g., LED lighting, mini-splits), and yet power consumption seems to rise year after year.

...What if we just make cars and trucks more efficient?...
Any Carnot cycle engine (e.g., Gasoline and diesel engines) has a maximum possible efficiency set solely by the temperature delta between the operating and ambient temperature (i.e., 1- Tc/Th, where T is in an absolute measurement (i.e., Kelvin or Rankine)), currently, they see 17 to 21% efficiency. It's hard to make those engines operate at higher temperatures and stay reliable although people have been trying for years.

It's also why folks keep looking at fuelcell and EV cars. An electric motor for an EV is between 85 to 90% efficient.

...I don't know, it seems like a bit of a Rube Goldberg way of making electricity.
It does indeed, but as long as the maintenance costs are realistic and worked in the LCOE I'm okay with that.

The solar roads at least should be passive. There's far more surface area on the roads around my house than on top of my house. Plus there are a lot of advantages to local generation. I'm not sure that the economics work in places with a lot of snow, but it might be great here. The big unknown in my mind is their durability, traction, and the LCOE.

Update: ref
The city of Peachtree Corners, Georgia, now boasts the first section of solar roadway in the United States...produce more than 1,300 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually... energy will be used for a Level 2 electric car charging station at Peachtree Corners' city hall, which drivers will be able to use for free.
So, seems like the idea works technically. It would be interesting to see the $ numbers. Probably like most new things, they're awful. But in 30 or 40 years it might be the way things are done.
 
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I can see it now ... "We need everyone to go out and drive more, the road turbines aren't making enough power today."
That could be a solution to the brownouts in California last summer. If lots of people did that instead of going home and turning on their A/C we could get through that crisis.
:ROFLMAO:
 
That's a fake pic
The image is a conceptual image as to what it would look like. So, I guess "faked" is one way to put it.

....Ridiculous idea that will never work in real life....Not enough traffic 24 / 7 for the traffic wind turbines.
From the video, the simulation used real-life traffic patterns over 4-mile section and still theoretically produce 860 MW. I'd be more dubious that the simulation didn't include extenuating circumstances like the effect of cross-winds or traffic jams rather than there wouldn't be enough cars.

It's doesn't break any thermodynamic laws, the roadside turbines are just recapturing energy that would otherwise be lost, so theoretically feasible AFAIK.
 
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An issue I see with it is wildlife, and injury to pedestrians. Highways shouldn’t have pedestrians, but vehicles break down, and walking to a station is common...
One idiot injured and lawsuits would end profits quick...
 
An issue I see with it is wildlife, and injury to pedestrians. Highways shouldn’t have pedestrians, but vehicles break down, and walking to a station is common...
One idiot injured and lawsuits would end profits quick...
Wildlife on the highways are probably at much greater risk from the vehicles, but that's a good point about humans.

From the image (UK, so the lanes are reversed from the US), the turbines are in the median taking advantage of traffic going both ways. Hopefully fewer pedestrians inbetween the roads, but where there's an idiot there's a way. Probably can't raise them out of reach either as you'd lose the benefits.
 
Also, I would think vehicular airflow would be a wave like function, and as difficult to capture energy as ocean waves...
 
So what's the thinking that these are stupid ideas?

Same for solar roads, if it could be made affordable (e.g., Electrodeposition of perchlorates onto existing road surfaces) with no loss of traction I don't see any issues.
The traffic turbines were merely stupid.

The idea of Electrodeposition of perchlorates onto existing road surfaces is positively retarded. Lolz
Not even worth debating.
 
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