skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Some California Roads Soon Will Generate Power

play audio
Play

Monday, August 1, 2016   

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California has almost 400,000 miles of roads and a ton of truck traffic that together may soon become a source of renewable energy.

When a truck rumbles down the road, it sends out powerful vibrations, and the state is set to test something called piezoelectric technology, that can convert that pressure into electricity.

The California Energy Commission has been studying this idea for five years now, and just announced it is spending $7 million on a pilot project on Golden State roads.

Assemblyman Mike Gatto, a booster of the idea, says tiny sensors are embedded in the pavement that work like sonar, but in reverse.

"You shoot an electrical pulse into sonar, it can generate waves,” he explains. “This is really the opposite. The cars and trucks drive over a road, there's a certain amount of vibration within the pavement. These little watch batteries, they get a charge from those vibrations and they generate electric power."

Gatto explains the sensors have small wires that connect to a battery on the side of the road that then can generate power for streetlights, or even a nearby factory.

Gatto sponsored a bill a few years ago to fund a piezoelectric project, but Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed it, saying it needed to go to the California Energy Commission first.

"They've concluded that this is a tremendous source of power,” Gatto states. “If it goes as well as the experiments that other countries have done, then it's going to be 'coming to a road near you,' where a road you drive on might actually generate electrical power."

The sensors were first invented by an Israeli company and already are in use there, as well as in Japan and Italy.

The Energy Commission now is soliciting companies to apply for a grant to conduct the pilot program.





get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …

Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021