Compressed Air: Power Generation

[Dr. Shane]

Imagine this:

The process to produce electricity is based on installing a ramp with an angle of around 45 degrees that descends every time a vehicle drives over it.

As the ramp comes down a system of plates is activated that compresses the leftover air and impels it towards a tank where it is collected.

The compressed air is then lead towards the deposit through a system of pipes. Once the air is stored, it is injected towards a pneumatic turbine which puts a belt in motion that is connected with a generator. This is where the electricity is produced and distributed to the network.

What I love about this is that it is all based on old technology. It is like the pump one uses to pump up their bicycle tires. We install these "pumps" all over busy city streets and we create electricity as a by-product of driving our cars - regardless what the cars are fueled by.

[Neil D]

I like this...Where did you find this?

[Bravus]

No such thing as a free lunch in energy terms, I'm sorry to say. The cars would be slowed by going over the ramps and need to use that much more energy to speed up again, so all you'd be doing is using more gasoline as a source of power... in a process much less efficient than just burning it in a power station directly.

(dang I hate being the buzzkill)

[Neil D]

No such thing as a free lunch in energy terms, I'm sorry to say. The cars would be slowed by going over the ramps and need to use that much more energy to speed up again, so all you'd be doing is using more gasoline as a source of power... in a process much less efficient than just burning it in a power station directly.

(dang I hate being the buzzkill)

Not necessarily....We have school zones where we are required to go at or below a certain speed, ie 25 for a certain distance. We could install those items there in school zones. it would be the weight of the car that would push the rods down.

[Bravus]

Good thinking!

Buzz restored by the beekeeper!

[Neil D]

We are hummmming along quite nicely.....

[Dr. Shane]

Install them in front of stop signs where cars are required to be braking. Also on downward mountain slopes where cars and trucks downshift and coast down.

[Amelia]

Parking lots would be another good place to install them. How about fast food/bank drive throughs?

[Dr. Shane]

I think Bravus' point is that if it takes more energy from the car to get over the ramp, then we are not gaining anything. My point is that if the ramps are placed in places where vehicles are coasting or braking, then no additional energy will be required by the vehicles.

For example, many busy streets have downward slopes in hilly cities. An air main would be run along side the street which these ramps would fill. Ramps would be installed on the downward slopes of the street and all the side streets with stop signs intersecting the street. The air lines do not have to run to a central electric plant. Small generator stations can be built with a small generator and air tank. The generators would not run nonstop. When the air tank filled up the generator would kick on, drain the air off the tank and dump the generated power into the power grid. Each station would generate about as much power as a single windmill.

[Neil D]

I wonder if the population of the US, especially in our cities, would encourage the use of mass transit, and build more mass transit systems, if this would decrease our carbon foot print, as a whole?

On the pluss side, more people would be walking more, and thus reducing the overall fatness of the population, and thus, creating a more healthy population. It would reduce the number of diabetics, and reduce cardiovascular diseases. Not to mention that it's less out of pocket to use mass transportation rather than cars, with gas and insurance. Just a thought....

[Dr. Shane]

Electric buses are old technology. They can be hooked directly to the electric grid. No batteries needed! We need more of this type of mass transportation. Commuters can park at "Park & Rides" and ride into the city. To encourage this, cities would have to pass laws that only allow cars with an odd number on their license plate to be inside the metro area on odd number calender days and those with even numbers on even number days. Moreover, each car a person or their spouse purchased would all be issued the same kind of plates (odd or even) so they couldn't just drive different cars on different days.

[Amelia]

Portland has both natural gas and biodiesel buses

[Neil D]

As does San Franscisco [have all three].

And I think Sacramento has biodiseal and natural gas, and the LA area as well.

I think that the electric bus uses more power though...not sure about that....

And Seatle has natural gas and biodiseal...They are trying to do the train system, but they keep getting held up...been that way for many years...at least 10 and closer to 20 methinks...

[Amelia]

Portland is getting closer to having the 5th Max line running. It will run along I205 from I84 to Oregon City. Now if the transit authority can get a handle on the crime it would be a nicer ride.

[melvin mccarty]

This is a very costly and cumbersom way of making power. The vehicles that run on battery power do the same thing with no extra overhead costs. Electric drive vehicles with internal combustion assist would be much more practical! Dream on.

mel

[Dr. Shane]

There are already areas that store access electrical power by compressing air. The Iowa Stored Energy Park is already incorporating Compressed Air Energy Storage into it as is Norton, Ohio. Hundorf, Germany and McIntosh, Alabama are already using this technology. What hasn't been used, is this proposed means of compressing air.

Another kink would be that these ramps would have to be locked down when it snows so the plows don't get hung up on them. That really wouldn't be hard. The local generator would just have to have a precipitation and temperature measuring device that would activate an electronic lock on its ramps when it snows and release them 72 hours after it stops snowing.

This is long-term stuff. Biodiesel and natural gas is short-term stuff because it is still petroleum based. Natural gas comes from the same place that crude oil does. Oil wells contain both crude oil and natural gas. When a well has over 50% natural gas it is called a gas well. When it has over 50% crude oil it is called an oil well. But all of them have both crude and natural gas. So switching from gasoline or diesel to natural gas doesn't get us anywhere.

[melvin mccarty]

And how many man-hours to install and service all that machinery? Noisy too!!! Compressors create heat which represents wasted energy.

mel

[Dr. Shane]

If we want to talk about labor and maintenance costs, we can talk about these solar farms. Solar farms have lots of little piece that take a lot of time to assemble and maintain. That is one of the problems with alternative energy. If it was cheap and easy we wouldn't still be using oil.