http://www.gizmag.com Isreali engineers are about to begin testing a 100 metre stretch of roadway embedded with a network of Piezo Electric Generators (IPEG™). The piezoelectric effect converts mechanical strain into electrical current or voltage and the system is expected to scale up to 400 kilowatts from a 1-kilometre stretch of dual carriageway. The IPEG™ is a pioneering invention in the field of Parasitic Energy harvesting and generates energy from weight, motion, vibration and temperature changes and will certainly have other parasitic energy harvesting applications in many fields. Initially though, the system can be configured to generate and store energy from roads, airport runways and rail systems at the same time as delivering real-time data on the weight, frequency and spacing between passing vehicles. The harvested energy can be transferred back to the grid, or used for specific public infrastructure purposes such as lighting and widespread use of the system would enable far greater scrutiny and hence understanding of the behaviour of road vehicles. en gizmag.com http://www.gizmag.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/#comment-94957 http://www.gizmag.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/#comment-94957 Mon, 05 Dec 2011 07:55:06 -0600 http://www.gizmag.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/#comment-91168 http://www.gizmag.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/#comment-91168 Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:32:44 -0600 http://www.gizmag.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/#comment-60046 http://www.gizmag.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/#comment-60046 Sun, 15 May 2011 14:30:29 -0500 http://www.gizmag.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/#comment-10768 http://www.gizmag.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/#comment-10768 Thu, 26 Nov 2009 22:15:04 -0600 http://www.gizmag.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/#comment-370 http://www.gizmag.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/#comment-370 Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:46:42 -0600 http://www.gizmag.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/#comment-355 http://www.gizmag.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/#comment-355 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:15:50 -0600 http://www.gizmag.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/#comment-334 http://www.gizmag.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/#comment-334 Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:31:40 -0600 http://www.gizmag.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/#comment-307 http://www.gizmag.com/piezoelectric-road-harvests-traffic-energy-to-generate-electricity/10568/#comment-307 Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:05:11 -0600