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Students Devise Method of Using Roads as Energy Source
The National Weather Study Project, a competition in Singapore that promotes thinking green, recently pitted teams from 152 schools against one another. The various groups submitted a total of 235 projects. One of the three winning teams, from Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) in Singapore, developed an idea so intriguing it earned the designers a $10,000 prize and a chance to demonstrate it at an upcoming showcase in Germany. According to the Straits Times, the group of four students from ACJC developed a system involving water pipes built under roads. Heat gathered and stored by the roads warms the water, providing a greener alternative to gas or electric heating systems, and a significantly cheaper alternative to solar panels.
Specifics of how the system works aren't available yet. If truly effective, the system could actually become a widely accessible green energy source (we've got a lot of streets), since solar panels and other methods typically require exorbitant costs to purchase, install, and maintain. [From: Straits Times via Newsvine]
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Comments
5
Subscribe to commentsXerloqJul 1st 2009 6:31PM
This is the first idea to collect energy from roads that might work. At first I thought this was another wind/motion capture idea that would actually make driving more inefficient.
Jack ChanceJul 1st 2009 7:33PM
Roads constantly need to be repaired. How are the pipes going to survive the wear and tear that normally destroys roads.
FAIL.
BoobitababesJul 1st 2009 9:18PM
Have seen this idea tried ~14 yrs. ago in a home driveway, cross-connected with hot water domestic & house heating system for thawing ice/snow off driveway in winter, and to collect hot driveway water if possible. Adding heat to thaw ice/snow worked great, since getting asphalt above 32 F (or 0 C) was/is relatively easy. Getting truly useful HOT water from the asphalt (due to ground coupling) was not possible but only for a few hours of only the warmer, less windy,(yes...wind REALLY robs your heat!) more fully sunny days & seasons of the year. Don't remember the incoming 'warm' water from the cleared driveway being much over 85 F/ 29 C, on sunny windless winter (outside temp ~25 F/ -4 C) day. It did get over 160 F/ 71 C on a sunny summer day(outside temp ~88 F/ 31 C), as I can best recall the data logs this many years later. By using (rooftop mounted) solar heated water run through the icy driveway, the occupants felt better at not consuming carbon-based fuels for such a luxury load, I also appreciate recalling. The idea of using the driveway as pre-heating incoming domestic water(via efficient heat exchanger) was considered, and plumbed for, but rendered impractical in actual use, because of low heat values to begin with(in winter), heat exchanger losses, and the need for occupant selectivity & frequent interaction(to NOT heat incoming cold water that you want to remain cold required a human operated valving, and pre-thought before each operation of a faucet, toilet flush, etc., and flushing of several gallons of warmer water out of the system before the desired cold water was actually rinsing over vegetables, cooling macaroni noodles, boiled eggs, etc.), then to turn it back on before washing clothes or showering. They did try to wash & shower in the middle to the afternoons to maximize the energy savings & collection, but that only worked out on selective days when all of the school & work schedules, weather, family activities, etc. aligned favorably. Their incredible efforts to datify, document, and adapt lifestyles accordingly, made me appreciate the difference between the 'fantasy' of renewable energy & solar ideas, vs. the realities 'on the ground' (pun unintended) when subsequently designing & building my own solar sensible house.
Their might be some limited possible applications for this idea that would justify all of the pipes, valves, pumps, instrumentation, etc., that would be necessary to actually pull this off on a grand scale, but I'm scratching my head on just exactly what that would be...,plus imagine the level of abuse (cracks, potholes, heaving, etc.) that roads experience, and multiply that toward the servicing, repair, & replacement requirements of all those miles of embedded tubes...whew! It had better be a pretty darned good end purpose to justify all of that!
I long for a greener, more sane world as much as anyone. But I know that we need to be better prepared to face and balance those fantasies with the harsher realities that life on this little blue sphere presents to us.
Anyways...That's the best of my recollections, hope I've offered enough to be of value to anyone reading this.
KIB2Jul 2nd 2009 1:21AM
Magnetic Ride Control is the future. I just hope it dosen't shift the planet.
http://fiestamovement.com/agents/view/58
marigwanna420Jul 2nd 2009 1:59AM
this is actually quite a good idea, the roads in southern cities in the summer suck in so much heat that the idea sounds doable