Wind energy from cars | Fusion - WeRIndia

With the human race constantly depleting our sources of nonrenewable energy such as coal and oil, people are turning more and more to natural sources of energy such as water energy, solar energy, and wind energy.

Now, a new Indian innovation makes use of both natural wind energy and a device that is normally known as one of the most harmful to the environment: cars. Prashanth D., Prathik S., Sampath Kumar B. and Rahul B. are mechanical engineering students in their final year who have developed a type of turbine that harnesses the wind energy caused by passing cars.

The turbines are placed on the dividers of highways and can even rotate at very low wind speeds. They are mainly designed to pick up energy from vehicles going at 80 kmph on the highways, but can pick up wind from cars going at all speeds.

Their design is compact and efficient, able to constantly generate between 25 and 45 volts of electricity, which can be stored in batteries for many various uses. Currently, these batteries are only available in a smaller scale, but the students emphasize that a government effort would allow the devices to even be used to power larger cities around the clock.

The four students also say how this can help in case of an energy crisis, since wind energy is a form of renewable energy, as well as cars being so common in usage. More energy can be generated if these turbines can be put on long express highways with several cars going at high speeds all at once.

The turbines can also help at home or on the go, since their design is portable and can be easily carried from place to place. They can also be used domestically in the city, where the presence of skyscrapers and other tall buildings can allow it to be placed on a balcony, where it can catch the high winds.

With mass production, the turbines could also become incredibly cheap.

This is a step forward in an increasingly automated future, both utilizing the benefits of those prospects and also helping to better the environment of the planet.

Image Reference: Flickr, wordlessTech