Electric road

On the eve of the result of Manchester’s congestion charge referendum, it emerges that a new type of road which generates electricity as traffic drives over it could mean British motorists will one day become a source of cheap power, according to green breakdown provider, the Environmental Transport Association (ETA).

The Israeli engineers behind the project claim that a 1km stretch of the power-generating asphalt will generate 400 kilowatts - enough power to run 8 small cars.

If the system was installed on every stretch of British motorway, it would generate enough energy to run 34,500 small cars.

Director at the ETA, Andrew Davis said: “The government predicts a massive shift to electric cars, and it may be that roads themselves will provide some of the new fuel - certain vehicles could be powered entirely by the roads on which they drive.”

“If these electric roads can be put in place without harm to the environment they would be a silver lining to the problem of heavy traffic.”

The new ‘electric road’ will be tested next month when engineers in Israel drive over a road embedded with tiny crystals that produce energy when ’squeezed’ by passing vehicles.

So hang on, then we will need MORE cars on the road. So why did I vote YES?

This entry was posted on 11/12/2008 at 11:10 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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