Collecting Kinetic Energy in a Parking Lot
Filed Under: Green Technology on June 23, 2009
A British supermarket chain called Sainsbury’s is collecting renewable energy from their parking lots and using it to supplement their electricity in their stores. The basic idea is to collect the kinetic energy from cars driving through the parking lot to enter or exit.
Sainsbury’s is an eco-conscious store chain in the UK that does several environmentally-conscious things already. Since their parking lots require speed bumps anyway, the store decided to experiment with kinetic energy road plates at their Gloucester store to see how it would work out. Vehicles passing over the plates on top of the bumps push down the plates and the movement is translated into electrical energy.
The idea isn’t new, of course, but it’s unique to the store chain I believe.
The store just opened and the results aren’t yet in, but over time the company expects to harness up to 30kw/h per hour during heavy traffic times.
The company that makes the plates, Highway Energy Systems, is hoping they’re a success so they can install them at Sainsbury’s and other stores throughout the UK. The startup has other technologies on a similar vein they’re developing as well.
