Harnessing the Power of Highways
KinergyPower is a new form of alternative energy which is also an example of distributed generation. KinergyPower was invented by two brothers Stefanos and Dimitri Horianopolous in Greece in 2002. Their system uses a series of hydraulic pistons to absorb the kinetic energy from the motion of traffic and transform it into hydraulic pressure. This pressure powers a hydro-generator unit which produces electricity. KinergyPowerUSA was established in September 2005 and is based in Bedford, NY. It is headed by a management team that includes local Westchester business executives Demetri and Susan Papacostas.
Kinergy Power USA | Technical Synopsis | Applications and Uses
“Wherever there is motion, there is potential for KinergyPower. Trucks, automobiles, trains, and even people all generate some level of kinetic energy. The heavier and more consistent the traffic, the greater the wasted energy and the greater the potential for KinergyPower. Our technology is the key to capturing and harvesting this energy in an efficient and economical way.”
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June 19th, 2008
You can’t just create energy for no cost. The demo above shows me that the cost of generating the energy is passed on to motorist. Sure it may only cost a single motorist a small amount to drive over this, but in the end it is like putting a gas/diesel generation station online with all the carbon footprint to go with it.
Also this does not seem to be as reliable as we need power generation to be. I just can’t imagine this not breaking down causing traffic disruptions when repairs are needed.
What about safety? Are they safe for motorcycles? What about a car on the edge of the carpet? What about traction?
What about snow plows in the winter? Will they be able to plow the surface in the winter? Willroad salt mess up the mechanics of the rug or cause fast corrosion? will ice build up causing it to stop working or break.
June 19th, 2008
Having researched the above technology I am sold and I am very excited they are getting going. The Kinergypower technology is installed in areas where vehicles must slow down. The applications are endless from exit ramps to toll bridges to drive-thrus to security gates on and on and on. Currently this energy is wasted on the brakes and as heat on the road.
Additionally the whole mechanism is covered by a surface material that is exactly the same granularity as existing surfaces so no safety issues.
Technology permits snow plows or emergency vehicles to carry a chip that flattens the mechanism to create a smooth surface. They also have found a way to use some of the energy in the winter to heat up the surface so there is no snow or ice accumulation.
It is really very brilliant.
June 20th, 2008
I thought readers of this site would be smarter than this. This idea is not woth the computer graphic used to sell it.
Dumb. dumb. dumb.
June 20th, 2008
I live in Southern California and spend lots of time on freeways with thousands of motorists speeding in both directions on 4, 5 and even 6 lanes in each direction. L.A. freeways are packed 24/7. I have long wondered how hard it would be to recapture some of the energy lost on freeways. Think of the energy sources: wind, motion, carbon emissions, even light. It’s foolish and short-sighted to think that freeways could not be a valuable long-term alternative energy source. Simply putting wind turbines at ground level in the medians and on the sound containment walls would generate a substantial amount of energy in L.A.
See my blog for more info on alternative energy and other issues: http://jeremygoodell.com/2008/06/20/exploiting-global-exploitation.aspx
June 21st, 2008
Ever hear of the first law of thermodynamics? All this does is steal kinetic energy from the cars. Kinetic energy that was produced by combustion of gasoline bought and paid for by the driver. Sounds like theft to me!
June 21st, 2008
If this is intended for exit ramps then it is an external source of “regenerative breaking” which is fine for cars without regenerative breaking but a small burden one those who have hybrid or electric cars which do. since they would not be reclaiming quite as much as they normally would.
I often get the impression that these projects are intended for far more than just off ramps. The media glowingly describes them as if they were going in to intersections and city streets. Even if they were placed before an intersection, they would still steal energy from those cars that had just seen the traffic open up at a green light ahead and were accelerating. I am not saying it is a bad idea but it needs to be used very selectively.
June 21st, 2008
I wonder how the cost would compare with just putting a string of solar panels or even small wind turbines along the dividers of highways.
June 22nd, 2008
What about the Hydraulics are they not unreliable if one section goes down there goes the whole deal.
June 29th, 2008
This is quite satisfying, Ive had this same idea in my head for quite a while, brilliant to see it in motion.
June 29th, 2008
In terms of theft of energy, I have 2 comments.
1 - You can consider it a small toll for using the roads. It is simply the price you pay for not building your own road.
2 - Would you consider the slope of an on ramp theft? It “steals” energy to raise you higher.
July 3rd, 2008
This message is for Aaron:
If you plan to make such a direct accusation, back it up with an argument! The thought put into this technology trumps the thought you put into your post; and judging by your post, more thought than you have given over the span of your life.
July 8th, 2008
This technology is obviously very debatable. I agree with Saul Wall. I wonder how the cost and energy output of this technology would compare to solar panels or even wind turbines. There is always going to be some setback to a technology as complicated as this. Why not simply line the highways with wind turbines to harness wind from passing cars…maybe because having wind turbines lining the roads is a tad dangerous…I’m not exactly sure. Concerning the comment of Trent: when you consider this technology as a small toll for using the roads, you have to consider the fractions of gasoline that will be used to get over the hydraulic pumps. In the end, you are simply burning gasoline to create energy which is not a solution at all.
July 8th, 2008
But, if you only put these hydraulic pumps where people are slowing down, and in essence, they are simply acting as brakes, then I am interested in figuring out how much energy can be harnessed and whether or not it would be cost efficient.
July 8th, 2008
From Wikipedia, the Kinetic Energy in a moving vehicle is 1/2*(mass)*(velocity)squared. So a loaded truck weighting 36,000 kg traveling at only 40mph or 18 meters per second generates 5.8 million joules of energy. 1/2*36,000*18^2
Then go to google and see how many KWH 5.8 million joules of energy is and you get 1 Joule = 2.77777777777778E-07 Kilowatt Hours or 1.62KWH. Then think about the millions of trucks a day that have to come to a complete stop multiple times a day.
July 10th, 2008
Oh my goodness, what a dumb idea. You’re stealing energy from the cars to make your own electricity. Don’t forget your conservation of energy laws. If you are absorbing energy from the cars, they have to spend that much extra energy to keep going the normal speed. Sure this would work in generating electricity but you’re stealing from people.
July 10th, 2008
I just read this entry and was somewhat taken aback by the negativity in some of the comments. I had made an entry in the free energy forum entitled “Free energy from the nations highway system”. I asked if anyone might know if this idea had already been invented and what others thought of the idea. I received varied comments, as one would expect. But, as to the comments here, it kind of reminds me of my high school history class where Columbus was denigrated for believing the world was round. I fail to see how someone who clearly should be forward thinking, evidenced by the fact that they are here reading this data, would be so negative. I believe that negative thinking is the worst waste of energy. Energy which cannot be reclaimed. I don’t know how to use a negative to prove a positive. I must have missed that one in logic class. Anyway. I believe the concept has merit and am happy to know someone is already working on the idea and will continue to watch.
Johnk Ormond Fl.
July 10th, 2008
I would like to post an after thought concerning the idea I previously referred to in my own post. In order to visualize the concept which I portrayed you must picture millions of square miles of surface area on top of millions of square miles of contained hydraulic fluid under the substrait of the road. This fluid would be literally squeezed and routed through generators which would convert the energy into electricity. This fluid would be very shallow. Maybe only quarter of an inch deep, broken down into say 100 ft. long sections, over thousands of miles of highway. In the event of a failure it would not effect the thousands of other systems. An implanted devise could send a signal to a central control system which would result in a crew being sent to initiate a repair. Much as any other road crew would be sent. The up and down compression of any given section of the highway would be so slight as to make little or no effect on the fuel usage of the vehicles passing over. Yet the capture of the free released energy wasted by the passing vehicles would more than make up for any increased usage of fuel. A vehicle passing from a smooth recently paved highway to an old rough section of the same highway would, in my opinion waste more fuel from passing motor vehicles. By the way this energy would be purchased by electric companies and the proceeds would be used to maintain the infrastructure of the highway ultimately saving us tax payers money. Think about it.
John K Ormond fl
July 23rd, 2008
I have to say, I’m also skeptical about the maintenance of this technology and whether or not its feasible. However, the science is sound. The kinetic energy used here is the vertical kinetic energy caused by the weight of the vehicle. This is used to push the spring downwards. Now to get to the next spring, there is a small diagonal increase with both a vertical and horizontal component. The small horizontal component is probably very small and negligible in terms of total horizontal kinetic energy lost. In this sense, a car or semi might be able to slow down or speed up much as they did before, since most of the energies lost to momentum. Yes conservation of energy dictates that some energy is lost, but as I stated…it probably is negligible. It’d certainly have to be for this to be feasible.
August 7th, 2008
I have read the comments, positive and negative, and I have made a general consensus of this new, totally original idea. Technically, it should work, if people stop throwing garbage into the street, and so, this implementation would work in cleaner cities. Installing this in, say, the suburbs of New York City, or San Fransisco, would be a waste of resources, even with the thousands of commuters everyday. And, to make things clear, this will not solve the dent in the atmosphere vehicles are putting up there everyday. It is just a solution for the fossil fuel power plants that are also emitting the GH gases. This solution is two faced, and has 2 or 3 possible outcomes and everyone comes to understand:
1: It will work and the implementations of harnessing kinetic energy is a breakthrough, and reduces the need for fossil fuels greatly. This will bring down gas prices slightly and for a short time, buy us time to find a solution to the motor vehicle issue.
2: It will fail miserably and just increase US debt (if funded by the government, which will most probably happen) or put some investors in the red zone, in terms of finance, threatening the economy and probably bringing the US into supreme debt, causing inflation, etc etc.
3: Just another branch in the future tree, for some unexpected turn of events that might happen. One of them, for example might be that this new implementation is transformed into the next great thing, and somehow can be so widespread that it is the solution to all our issues! It can be implemented around the world, generating all the electricity we need, including our new electric cars, that use resonance frequency, and by driving through a station, can ‘absorb’ the power it needs for the drive to the next. Or some outstanding theory like that.