Air can power car electric systems
Electrical systems on car dashboards and plane cockpits can be powered by energy from flowing air, scientists say.
A team of researchers from the City College of New York are trying to develop “green” devices that can efficiently produce electricity from air in moving vehicles.
The inch-long devices are composed of materials known as piezoelectrics which can convert energy from motion into electricity.
When attached to the roof of a car or the fuselage of a plane, they can generate output voltage from vibrations caused by the air flow.
The researchers are currently experimenting with approaches that involve causing the device to vibrate "in resonance" with the air flow or shake around in turbulence.
Study leader Professor Yiannis Andreopoulos says: "These devices open the possibility to continuously scavenge otherwise wasted energy from the environment."
Findings from the project were presented at the annual meeting of the American Physical society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics in Minneapolis, US.
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