Moving along the road to renewable energy should be leaps and bounds. In the literal sense. Scientists from the University of Wisconsin and the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison believe that they can use the mechanical energy of human steps using ordinary flooring. They propose to use chemically treated nanofibers of cellulose in wood pulp, which produce an electric charge, coming into contact with untreated nanofibres.
“We were always looking for an affordable, scalable technology that could efficiently collect mechanical energy from the environment,” says Wang Xudong, associate professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Wisconsin.
After two years of work on this technology, Wang came to a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). Triboelectricity is similar to the phenomenon that produces statistical electricity on clothes.
In the case of TENG, two different materials with different electron attraction possibilities are installed in the flooring. Fibers are chemically processed to make them more attractive to electrons or more repulsive. As soon as a person steps on the floor, the materials come into contact and exchange a charge. After the contact breaks - the leg lifts off the floor - the charge flows back through the external circuit.
A floor with a TENG will be most suitable in areas with high pedestrian flow such as shopping centers, metro stations or even sports stadiums. Wang says that a stadium filled with 80,000 people can illuminate itself in just one step of all these people.
Other attempts have been made, other technologies have been considered, such as what Van calls road energy collection. For example, piezoelectric devices that collect the energy of the oscillations of road traffic using a piezoelectric crystal are placed just below the asphalt surface. The crystal bends slightly when the vehicle crosses the road, producing an electric current. The technology has already been used in Japan and Israel. However, the ceramic materials used in the manufacture of this device are expensive and toxic.
“In the triboelectric concept, the choice of materials is much wider, and we can use a lot of cheap, environmentally friendly and even biodegradable materials,” says Van. He believes that the cost of incorporating this technology will increase the total cost of the arrangement of floors by no more than 20%.
Currently, Van is developing a prototype, but believes that this technology can be used for various types of flooring, and the service life of the system can potentially exceed the life of the floor itself.
Innovation using more traditional renewable energy sources, such as the sun, is paving the way for energy production across the whole country. Many countries are increasingly thinking about turning roads into gold: forcing them to gather sunlight that will benefit the residents.
It is believed that the first solar road was built by the Netherlands - more precisely, a bicycle lane - in 2014. The modest Dutch 90-meter walkway SolaRoad consists of concrete modules with a translucent top layer of tempered glass. Under the glass are crystalline silicon solar cells. In March, a Dutch company announced plans for another project in California.
At the beginning of this year, France announced that it would create 1,000 kilometers of solar roads in the next five years. Colas will take care of this with its Wattway solar system. Colas estimates that every kilometer of solar roads will be able to generate the energy needed for 5,000 people. Accordingly, the overall project will provide electricity to five million people.
Wattway pavement consists of "extremely stable photovoltaic panels that can be used on all types of electrical and networked roads." Colas claims that Wattway will be able to provide street lighting and traffic signs and traffic lights in cities, towns and remote areas, as well as charging stations for electric vehicles.
In the US, Solar Roadways promises a similar energy solution. Not so long ago, the company collected more than $ 2 million at Indiegogo and also received several grants from the US Department of Transportation. Solar Roadways panels are made of tempered glass, specially textured to create friction for vehicles and pedestrians, with the ability to withstand loads of up to 110,000 kilograms. Each unit consists of upper and lower glass panels, between which solar panels and LEDs are enclosed.
According to Solar Roadways estimates, a national road system of such solar panels will be able to produce more than three times more electricity than is currently used in the United States, and even provide supplies to the whole world. Unfortunately, during a pilot program in Sandpoint, Idaho’s hometown, the company ran into problems.
The main problem was revealed in the laminator, which was used in the production process and made for weather protection for hexagonal panels. The two components of the laminator failed and led to chaos. Some panels destroyed the solar panels, some LEDs, disabled heating elements, saving them from snow and ice.
But these companies are at least trying to take the first step. It is amazing that we still have not learned how to use the giant squares of our roads.
The article is based on materials .
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