15 Jun 2009
Sainsbury's will this week cut the ribbon on a new "people-powered" kinetic energy system, which could soon be rolled out at stores across the country.
The new Kinetic Road Plates have been installed at the supermarket giant's new store in Gloucester and will harness enough energy from vehicles driving in and out of the store's car park to power all the store's check outs.
The new system, which has been developed by UK startup Highway Energy Systems, works using plates that move when vehicles drive over them, creating enough kinetic energy to drive a generator. The technology is expected to produce 30kW of energy an hour without causing any disturbance to motorists as they drive over the plates.
A spokeswoman for Sainsbury's said the company was confident that the system would deliver a return on investment within two years, adding that should it prove successful it is highly likely to be rolled out to other stores across the UK.
"If the plates prove effective we absolutely will look to roll it out more widely," she said. "We estimate the system will recoup costs in two years, which isn't always the case with green measures."
The kinetic energy system is just one of a raft of environmental technologies featured at the new store, including rainwater harvesting systems, solar thermal panels for heating water, sun pipes designed to increase the use of natural light, and energy management systems designed to ensure energy efficiency is constantly optimised.
David Sheehan, director of store development and construction at the company, said the new technologies, many of which were pioneered at Sainsbury's new store in Dartmouth last year, would serve to both cut carbon emissions and improve the store environment for staff and shoppers.
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WHAT DO YOU THINK? Add your comment
Daylight robbery!!
you've got to admire this brazen theivery!! this is not "waste energy" which is being recovered. it is energy which would have got you a couple of inches closer to your parking slot, meaning you now have to burn a tiny bit more petrol to get there. this is like the hackers who shave 1c of everybody's bank account. and dressing it up as green is really the icing on the cake. way to go Sainsbury's!!!
Posted by Luke, 24 Jun 2009
Regenerative braking
I think the article didn't mention the important point that the devices would be placed where the cars would normally be braking (see e.g. longer article http://tinyurl.com/mrjahr ). The aim is to take some of the energy that would otherwise be dissipated as heat (i.e. completely lost) in the brakes. It would be vastly better if cars always used the energy of braking efficiently (regenerative braking) rather than just at Sainsburys stores. Meaning the recovery device is in the car not on the ground.
Posted by aiming2Brational, 22 Jun 2009
Wow.
Yeah. This is a horrible idea. Not green at all. What would be better is a system of speed bumps with no conversion system, thereby costing the consumer gas efficiency without recouping any of it. That would be the best thing. After all, we don't want to "steal" energy.
Posted by Matt, 21 Jun 2009
Did somebody miss classes in physics ? - And why is it praised uncritically?
It's not ok to do this... what a lie! So... I have to pay for THEIR cost savings? It would be ok to install this things at the end of the way e.g. in the lot or so because there is no free energy! 1st law of thermodynamics - no energy will be lost...
Posted by MR. RIGHT, 21 Jun 2009
Kinetic energy = real energy spent
"It costs no extra energy to run over the plate." Yes it does. If the plate absorbs some kinetic energy from the car then unless you were coasting or braking to a stop anyway then the lost kinetic energy will be replaced by you pressing the accelerator to regain the momentum lost to the plate. Ok it's only a fraction of a penny in fuel for each car that rolls over the plate but that adds up to 30kWh (their claim) that is generated by a few hundred petrol / diesel engines. It *is* robbery and it isn't green.
Posted by AccordGuy, 19 Jun 2009
Re: Stolen energy
I fail to see how the energy is "stolen" or how it's "inefficient", as the car would have been moving the same way and running its engine in the first place. It costs no extra energy to run over the plate. The cars aren't lining up just to run over the plates. We're creating something from nothing, i.e. energy otherwise wasted in everyday routine.
Posted by Anon, 19 Jun 2009
Another Big Scam
The motorist will be paying to run the checkouts, energy does not just come from nowhere, its just like the bank scam, take quarter of a penny from every customer and you have thousands of pounds, total scam, and it is NOT GREEN, every car passing over this generator will be producing more emisions, and if you take into account the energy taken to produce the product into acount, it is producing more polution than it saves.
Posted by Mr R H Ridley, 19 Jun 2009
Defy Physics
Don't be fooled! There's this thing called Newton's Law of the Conservation of Energy! The generation of energy comes from some where, and energy that drives the plate generators come from the combustion engines on the cars just like James Murray said. This is like saying you're saving on electricity costs because you plugged all of your electronics into your neighbor's socket.
Posted by bobby hsu, 18 Jun 2009
Stolen Energy
Harness energy? More like steal energy, straight from the customers' cars. That's right, everyone driving over these road plates will be giving up a little gas to Sainsbury. Really, they are trying to save costs by taking energy from cars, which cost customers money. Also, this isn't any more green than using electricity from the grid. Every time energy is transferred from one form to another, some of it is lost due to inefficiencies. Getting electricity by these kinetic plates from moving cars powered by combustion engines is just wasteful. Getting a generator powered by gas will be greener than this since the energy is transferred less. Or use electricity from a power plant, which due to its large size, is more efficient. Overall, this sounds greener, but really, it is moving the costs to the consumers, while being worse for the environment at the same time. Either stick with electricity from the power grid or choose a real green solution.
Posted by Johnson, 16 Jun 2009