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Hi-tech sleeping policemen that use the pressure of passing cars to create power

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dpeilow

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May 23, 2008
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Winchester, UK
London News: Hi-tech sleeping policemen that use the pressure of passing cars to create power are to be tested by Ealing Council | london life | thelondonpaper

Hughes said: “With a steady flow of traffic, four of the ramps would be enough to power all the street lights, traffic lights and road signs for a mile-long stretch of street.

Guest_Chris says: I suggest that if Mr Hughes is an engineer, then he's not a very good one. Of course this scheme will result in the cars using more fuel - if the plates move, then that is taking energy from the car, slowing it down. In order to maintain speed the car has to use more fuel. In a bizarre way, this scheme is the opposite of using electric cars in the city to reduce pollution. Instead of getting their electricity from a power station a long way away, they are generating it, and hence pollution on the spot.


Discuss...
 
If the plates are used in places where you want to slow down traffic anyways (eg replacing speed bumps), then it's a good idea. But for other places, it might actually be a wasting more energy than just using electricity normally.
 
I saw this whole idea proposed and discussed somewhere else a few years ago. In a way it is a direct (localized) tax on those that use that particular road. I have to imagine that it would create some extra noise as the cars drive over the generator.