Cleantech: Short & Winding Road

You think gasoline prices are high, in Israel the fuel costs about $9 a gallon. To help reduce reliance in pricey gas, there’s a short stretch of highway in Israel that uses hammering wheel traffic to create electricity. California could be next in line for an energy-to-energy transfer that captures the energy trucks bang out that are converted into kilowatts. Theoretically, one day you’ll be able to drive your electric vehicle over a road, then plug into that road’s microgrid to recharge your car. In a district where “rush” hour lasts most of the day, that concept is worth exploring, according to AB 306 author Assemblymember Mike Gatto (D-Burbank). He authored a bill that requires the California Energy Commission to try a pilot project using piezoelectric technology to convert rush hour to kilowatt hours. At press time, the bill sits in the Appropriations Committee “suspense file.” The suspense file is where bills with price tags of $150,000 or more are held. Legislation is generally held in this file by the Legislative fiscal committees before a budget bill is adopted. Think of piezoelectricity as an asphalt trampoline. Instead of giving a kid a lofty charge of kinetic energy--the cars going over the surface create a jumping up and down that’s converted into oscillating electrons. Piezoelectricity, like trampolines, is old technology. “It’s like a sonar ping that allows you to see underwater,” Randy Copperman, Channel Technologies vice president of strategic development, explained. “The reverse is true, a substantial amount of pressure can elicit an electric current,” he added. The technology, so far, hasn’t been cost-efficient, according to sources. In a California highway, it would involve ceramic discs the size of thumbs, or rods the size of pens, embedded in the road. Wires capturing the movement would extrude to the verge of the road and be stored in batteries or fed back into the grid, according to Copperman. While an electric vehicle appears perfect for running down the road then plugging back in to recharge for later use, the power exchange is weighted towards big trucks--much more bang for the buck, or kW, so to speak.

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Cleantech: Short & Winding Road

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