In the pursuit of sustainable transportation, researchers and engineers have been exploring innovative ways to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles. One promising avenue is the utilization of vehicle wind energy, which involves capturing and converting the kinetic energy generated by moving vehicles into usable power.
What is Vehicle Wind Energy?
Vehicle wind energy refers to the process of harnessing the power generated by the movement of vehicles through the air. As a vehicle moves, it encounters resistance from the surrounding air, creating aerodynamic drag. This drag force, if properly harnessed, can be transformed into a valuable energy source.
The gust of wind produced this way by the moving vehicles can’t be harvested by wind turbines, but can be used to generate clean electricity.
Using Active Kinetic Technology
A moving vehicle generates a movement of the air, which is felt as a gust of wind at the edge of the road. The generator installed at the edge of the road can turn the kinetic energy of the wind produced by the moving vehicles into useful clean electricity.
The wind from a passing vehicle can be harvested to generate gigawatts of power. Potentially gigawatts of energy could be harvested easily from energy conservation using active kinetic technology. Although a very new concept, it has already been given serious consideration from various business groups, such as LinkedIn.
The electricity can be harvested 24 hours a day from various roads and peaks during rush hours when people need energy the most. The systems is versatile and easy to install as fencing on any road worldwide. Adding the energy devices will provide further re-enforcement to the central reservation barrier and the costs will be reclaimed by the generation of power for lighting, EV stations or to power the grid.
The technology can be replicated up and down highways to provide soft collision, barriers and ultimately renewable vehicle energy.
The generator uses megawatts of wasted energy produced daily on roads and can also reduce the emissions produced by these vehicles.
How much energy can be produced?
A regular car that moves on the road, can generate at least 1 kWh of energy per motorway mile. In the UK alone, over 70,000 vehicles are using at least 1 mile of motorway per day, and this means a massive amount of wasted energy, if we don’t use generators to harvest this free source of clean power.
Installing these generator as roadside fencing can generate gigawatts of power every year. This is an easy technology to assemble and requires small maintenance.
The technology can be applied to any vehicles including trains, cars, lorries and trucks. The larger the vehicle, the more energy can be produced.
Active Kinetic 1 provides a unique method to harvest wind energy that is unachievable by using a turbine.
Conclusion
Harnessing vehicle wind energy presents a unique opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of transportation while improving energy efficiency. By leveraging the power generated by moving vehicles, we can promote sustainable transportation solutions and contribute to a greener future.
Continued advancements and investments in this field will pave the way for a more sustainable and energy-efficient transportation system, benefiting both the environment and society as a whole.