Highway wind turbines to capture energy from passing vehicles
An Arizona State University student has proposed a very novel way of re-capturing some of the energy expended by vehicles moving at high speeds on our nations highways. We all know how much air turbulence is generated by vehicles moving at speed particularly trucks.
The proposal would involve mounting horizontal wind turbines above the roadway that would be driven by the moving air generated by the passing traffic. The electricity generated by spinning these turbines could be fed back into the grid. Joe's analysis indicates that based on vehicle speeds of 70 mph each turbine could produce 9,600 kWh per year.
The wind turbines shown in the proposal are of a quiet running type. Certainly in many built up areas there is enough constant traffic volume to maintain a steady airflow through much of the day. The big question that needs to be answered is whether the nature of the turbulent airflow could keep the turbines turning. If a turbine could be optimized to work in that environment it seems like it might be a very worthwhile investment. It's certainly deserving of further investigation.
[Source: Archinect.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mike 12:12PM (3/02/2008)
What if we put strips at points along the road that span the width of the roadway and have these plungers in them with magnetic coils that are pushed down when a vehicle drives over them and thus harness the energy available on our roads from all our vehicles? If we need more energy, we could put in more of these strips at increasing points along the roadway...Then all this gathered energy could be fed back into the grid, reducing it's dependence on fossil fuels to supply electricity to our homes... As our fossil fuel using vehicles get replaced over time with cleaner vehicles, we will have a perfect clean energy oop going...Our clean cars would use our highways, our highways would harness the massive energy potential, feed it to our power plants which will provide clean electricity for our homes...???
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Paul T 10:19AM (6/03/2008)
Highway wind turbines are a fantastic way of supplementing our energy needs, but as always, as with any great idea, the devil is in the details. For instance, these turbines would have to be serviced periodically. How do you do that without disrupting traffic? How about putting two or three turbines on a swivel arm, and when it comes time for maintenance, swing the arm to the side of the road where the turbines can be serviced in safety, without disruption to traffic?
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Daniel 9:45AM (7/18/2008)
I like this concept/I designed a system that uses kinetic energy from moving vehicles,to produce power/using hydrolic fluid and turbines/
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ed 10:48AM (7/28/2008)
if you coupled this system with a mod of wirless enrgy transmission the cars could potentialy power themselves also if you have the new paper thin solar cells on the vehicles it would be possible to get a net gain of enegy enough to power both the cars themselves and the surrounding area
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Sampath Srinivasan 12:10AM (10/01/2008)
I agree to John Rowell's comments but can eliminate the drag force on vehicles by having a roof approximately 100 meters on both sides from the wind turbines placed below them. The wind created by the vehicles to be directed to the wind turbine blades by a properly designed louvers that can allow the air to go from the ground to upward direction. The ceiling will restrict the air velocity created by rotation of the wind blades and will hit the roof and not the vehicles.
Thanks
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pedro estrella 9:57AM (4/06/2009)
I've had this idea for about ten years but instead of placing the horizontal wind turbines over the lanes of the highway, I placed vertical axis wind turbines which are more efficient and could resist stronger wind speeds from all angles on top of the concrete barrier of a highway. the wind created by the vehicles passing in opposite directions will be greater than if done in just one direction. the electricity produced could be sent to the grid or utilize it to illuminate the highway. there is no problem maintaining the turbines because they will not obstruct traffic.also if the wind speeed is not strong enough you can erect 8 feet tall wind deflectors that will direct the wind more directly to the turbines.when the excess electricity is not needed you store it in batteries.
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MattO'D 9:49AM (8/10/2009)
This is a great idea! I've been day dreaming about something similar for awhile now. I read on the internet about a vertical axis wind turbine in Washington DC and then the next day as I was driving down the highway looking at the massive and multiple liight posts all I could think is, how much wind is being generated on this highway and how difficult would it be to make a light post where the shaft is a vertical axis wind turbine with solar panels affixed on top to create a hybrid power generator? But I never considered the idea of a Horizontal axis over the highway.
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Schmeltz 10:04AM (5/01/2007)
What an awesome idea! I wish I would have thought of that. I'm being serious by the way--not sarcastic. How many of us have stood next to a busy highway at some point, and nearly get blown over by a passing truck? We should tap energy wherever we can.
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Karkus 10:17AM (5/01/2007)
Yes, this is a cool idea, and I think they're trying it in Canada too. Overall I think it could work. The only drawback I could it could reduce some of the drafting effect (especially on a busy highway), thereby reducing MPG of the cars. However, I would expect this effect to be very minor.
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1985 Gripen 4:03PM (5/01/2007)
The question I have is whether this thing would essentially be a pigeon blender.
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cdub 5:01PM (5/01/2007)
Well - anything to reduce pigeon population is good in my opinion.
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Janis Mara 8:14PM (5/01/2007)
I am so totally on board with this idea, and in passing I note that the turbine is quite attractive, too! If you've ever ridden a motorcycle on the freeway, you have certainly witnessed up close and personal the immense blowback created by trucks, cars and your own velocity. So, right on!
(BTW it is true that the turbines in Altamont Pass, Calif., in the area where I live, have killed a bunch o' birds. Pace the pigeon-haters above, I hope that doesn't happen with this one!
Janis Mara
www.ecotality.com
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Bob 12:20AM (5/02/2007)
they should install some in canada (toronto/montreal). because in winter the wind is just too powerful.
http://mininova.wordpress.com/
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TuuSaR 7:14AM (5/02/2007)
I would call that "hobby" windpower and simply not making any practical sense.
Bigger the windmill is, better the overall efficiency and of course it should be located on good windy place. In the USA you have plenty of excellent places to install massive mills worth of several megawats, no need to waste time and money on peanuts seen in that news picture.
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John Rowell 12:34PM (5/02/2007)
Sorry, you don't get something for nothing! Remember the law of conservation of matter and energy? Yeah, the one we all learned in school? The energy produced by those wind turbines will be at the expense of increased drag for the cars. We're talking reduced fuel economy. Who wants that?
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mike 12:43PM (5/02/2007)
This is an awesome idea! There are lots of instances where a simple turbine could be used to generate a lot of renuable power.
#8 Installing one of these above the road will not increase the drag experienced by cars. The displaced air is already moving as a result of the car moving through it. Its simply a matter of turning that moving air's energy into something we can use.
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Chris M 4:44PM (5/02/2007)
The problem is that the irregular gusts produced by traffic are not efficiently used by wind turbines. Windmills work best with constant winds. At most sites the energy recovered may not be worth the cost of the windmill installation.
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Jim Carty 8:21AM (12/07/2007)
I've heard the complaint over and over again that the turbines would create extra drag on the traffic below. How would that happen? The idea is to recapture the energy that is already being expended, like the brakes on hybrid vehicles. The other argument I've heard that it wouldn't generate enough energy. In the business world, if there is a net gain, you do it. Especially if it can be repeated over and over again. Fortunes have been made on transactions that only net a few cents.
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