Sainsbury's supermarket in Gloucester, UK generates electricity from parking lot
We've seen the concept for roadways that generate power through either electricity or hydraulics, but it turns out there's actually at least one pace in the world where something similar is already happening. At the Sainsbury's supermarket in Gloucester, UK, a series of plates are mounted so that cars drive over them, pushing them downward and creating a rocking motion that's harnessed and used to turn a series of generators. Apparently, the 30kWh of power generated from the market's parking lot is sufficient to power the store's checkouts.
Assuming that these energy-generating plates aren't set up in a way that impedes the vehicles or requires additional fuel to pass over, this could potentially be an excellent way to control speed and generate electricity. Other eco-friendly practices used by this supermarket include the harvesting of rain water to flush toilets, floor-to-ceiling windows for natural light and solar-powered hot water heaters.
[Source: Daily Mail via Engadget]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
markr 3:52PM (6/16/2009)
"Assuming" is assuming a lot. There is no free lunch (or groceries); that's why a mini windmill on a car doesn't work either. So these plates take extra energy from the car, energy which will either slow the car, or require more fuel to compensate. Sort of like regen braking, only externalized and used for another purpose. Probably small enough that people won't care or notice, but probably not the most efficient way to generate electricity (basically, ICE combustion).
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Guy Koekelbergh 3:54PM (6/16/2009)
Of course this energy comes from the cars that drive over it. So the cars will consume more. The plates slow the car down, but that is probably also the purpose.
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Bip-D-Bo 3:58PM (6/16/2009)
I am a mechanical engineer and I have worked on some of the most advanced energy saving technologies for grocery stores. I have seen some hair brained designs which cost a lot of money but in the end don't save didly. This is easily dumbest idea I have ever seen. This looks to be a very expensive system. 30kWh is $3.00 in the States (albiet more in the UK). Is this 30kWh collected over an hour, day, week? It's probably collected over a long time since the amount of power consumed by the checkouts is very small, insiginificant compared to the store's lighting, air conditioning, heating, refrigeration, cooking, etc. Also, the plates would slow down cars, so they would have to be placed where cars would be braking anyway so that they don't just rob energy from the gas tanks. We need to cut away at energy consumption at the root, not at the leaves!
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Erik 4:11PM (6/16/2009)
What a super idea... Instead of switching to green utility power, let's power our stores with hundreds of small internal combustion engines.
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why not the LS2LS7? 4:12PM (6/16/2009)
This is stealing energy from the cars that drive in the lot. Nothing eco about it.
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jpm100 4:28PM (6/16/2009)
Its theft form their customers. Ever walk a mile vs. a mile uphill?
They've created a series of mini-hills which the vehicle climbs with energy which is then stolen when the plates sink down.
The more clever systems are sort of continous so you don't immediately perceive the effect.
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Roger 4:45PM (6/16/2009)
Wow, so people will be spending extra fuel to drive up a small hill with each bump just so it can push the generator. Maybe the concept could be better applied to the aisles in the store so people can get some exercise while shopping at the same time as helping offset the electricity consumption.
Chris M 4:37PM (6/16/2009)
It's being placed where they want the cars to slow down anyway, probably entering the parking lot, and that would be a lot less annoying than the traditional speed bump.
Time will tell if it is a practical idea or not.
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jpm100 10:51PM (6/16/2009)
The problem is that I could see slowing down to a speed that is comfortable going over the bumps and maintaining that speed with the gas pedal.
And Hybrids/EVs recapture their braking energy (especially the parking lot type speeds for a hybrid). This would defeat that.
Stan Wellaway 2:29AM (6/17/2009)
What goes around comes around. Way back in the late 1960s, when I was living in Birmingham, UK, I proposed "tidal power" for B'ham and other inland cities. The tide in question being the hundreds of thousands of vehicles which flow into the city each weekday morning, and out again each evening - and the idea was to milk them of energy via pressure plates in the roads - but only in places where energy was being wastefully dissipated - ie where vehicles were already braking, predominantly on downhill approaches to roundabouts and red traffic lights etc. And also using speed humps as energy collectors.
Nothing came of it..
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Davsot 5:43PM (6/16/2009)
Weren't they already trialing (made-up word) in California shipping yards?
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Mark 6:10PM (6/16/2009)
They stole my idea, although mine was to install a more subtle version on highways where cars would run over the buttons as they drive along.
I think it could be better used in speed bumps where cars have to drive over them anyway so the energy is going to be lost so you might was well get the lost energy.
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nrb 6:17PM (6/16/2009)
Reading these arguments, I think ABG should start a campaign to get rid of speed bumps all together. They're eco unfriendly.
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Ian Bruce 2:52AM (6/17/2009)
Wouldn't it cheaper to just cut out the middleman and hire someone to siphon the gas out of the parked cars directly? It'd save a fortune in infrastructure costs, and have precisely the same effect.
With the money saved, Sainsbury can buy one of those swell magnetic motor, dark-energy, cold fusion, over-unity generators being sold by a Mr. Luigi Faccotti. (heavy Monty Python reference).
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