Progressive Minds

Okay, I'm a big fan of switching away from our current heavy dependency on private automobile transport systems and towards sustainable mass transit, but I came across this technology and it occurred to me that it may be of use for Bermuda. I'll let you all go and read up on it in detail from some of the links found below, but I'll give a brief description here.

Basically the 'electro-kinetic road ramp' generate electricity by transforming the kinetic energy produced by the action a vehicle driving over it into electricity that can then be used for traffic lights or otherwise fed into the electrical grid network.

I can see this system having some practical use along Kindley Field, the Shelley Bay Flatts area, the main bus terminal and PTB headquarters, and around schools, crosswalks and roundabouts. The company claims that they are effective in low-speed environments as well as being safe for cyclists and motocycles. My only concern really would be about whether they recoup the amount of energy invested in their production and their impact on ambulances - although I reckon they wouldn't be any worse than the red asphalt we have in place throughout the island.

Suggested links:

2005 BBC Report on it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/4535408.stm

Company producing them: http://www.hughesresearch.co.uk/

A YouTube video of one in action: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6tIMhWpLDfw