California eyes unusual power source: its gridlocked roads (xpost from CA group) [View all]

[KamaAina]

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/California-eyes-unusual-power-source-its-9283647.php

All those cars on California's famously gridlocked highways could be doing more than just using energy - they could be producing it.

The California Energy Commission is investing $2 million to study whether piezoelectric crystals can be used to produce electricity from the mechanical energy created by vehicles driving on roads.

The commission is in the process of choosing a company or university to take on small-scale field tests. It will study how the small crystals, which generate energy when compressed, could produce electricity for the grid if installed under asphalt....

"It's not hard to see the opportunity in California," said Mike Gravely, the commission's deputy division chief of energy research and development. "It's an energy that's created but is just currently lost in vibration."

Might it be better to put them on busy railroad tracks like BART or the NYC subway? Much less surface area to cover, and lots of weight going over them.