Company develops new technology capable of generating electrical energy through the movement of cars. The unprecedented highway wind turbine can generate up to 6 MW when used together.

England is leading the way and is installing wind turbines that generate clean, renewable electricity on motorway poles in England. The great innovation is the design of the highway wind turbine, which takes advantage of the wind produced by the movement of vehicles to make the blades rotate and produce electricity, without dependence on natural wind.

Understand how highway wind turbines work that does not depend on natural winds

Barry Thompson, CEO of Alpha 311, the company that developed the project, ensures that the highway wind turbine is a unique solution and can be an answer to generating a quantity of clean and renewable electrical energy almost infinite. According to the manufacturer, the turbines attached to poles on a highway could collectively generate around 6 MW, enough energy to supply a small community.

Barry Thompson's house is supplied with electricity from prototype turbines. The executive explains that when he is next to a highway and a truck passes by, it is possible to feel the air it moves. The company is responsible for capturing the energy from this wind.

As an example, the CEO cites the Thanet Way, a road less than 30 km long that has 1.114 lamp posts. To the wind turbines They could be installed in the central part of the highway and generate electrical energy from the wind generated by cars passing in both directions.

For Thompson, electricity generation would use infrastructure that already exists on site. He says the company isn't putting huge turbines on the landscape, it's just taking advantage of what's available.

How much does each wind turbine used on highways cost?

The new energy capture modality could help the United Kingdom achieve its goal of being carbon neutral by 2050. Alpha 31 vertical axis wind turbine1 is smaller, cheaper and easier to install than traditional wind energy turbines.

Each turbine built by the company is 2 meters high and currently costs around 26 thousand pounds to build, the equivalent of R$190 thousand in direct conversion. These devices can be used, in principle, to power the lights they are connected to. They can generate as much electrical energy as 21 square meters of solar panels.

According to the CEO of Alpha 311, in the initial stages of the project, the company only sought to power light posts on highways and streets.

However, the highway wind turbine has already exceeded this expectation. The team is currently forming partnerships with train lines, e-bike charging stations, community shelters, marine distribution companies, and even 5G networks.

Additionally, the company is in talks with authorities to test the technology on more UK roads. Some smaller cities in the US are also already testing these turbines.

Other initiatives to generate energy in the urban environment

In addition to this highway wind turbine, England also has a street that generates electrical energy from pedestrian footsteps. The world's first “Smart Street” was launched in London by technology company Pavegen.

Called a smart street, the initiative covers 107 m² and was developed with kinetic paving panels that generate electrical energy from pedestrian steps.

Users can also download an application with information about the amount of energy being generated by their effort and, in this way, vouchers and discounts in various stores are made available. To generate energy, the system uses electromagnetic induction generators.

When the paving is pushed down with the weight of a person, the energy storage flywheels rotate to convert the kinetic energy into electrical energy.