PiezoelectricRoadsinCalifornia

RexGarland
April26,2013
SubmittedascourseworkforPH240,StanfordUniversity,Fall2012

Introduction
Alternative energy will become increasingly
importantas fossil fuel supplies inevitably run out
or environmental damage sparks consumer
awareness. The search for a viable energy
alternativewillcontinueuntilthesealternativescan
addressthedynamicdemandsoftheelectricalgrid
andstoragelimitations.Piezoelectricdevices,used
for harvesting the vibrational energy of roads and
walkways due to traffic, can produce electrical
energy that is predictable (based on traffic
patterns),andlocallystorable.
Fig.1:StructureofPZT,acrystalcommonly
Piezoelectric devices generate electrical energy by usedforpiezoelectricapplications(Source:
meansofapiezoelectriccrystal.Thecrystal,placed WikimediaCommons)
about 5 centimeters below the surface of the
asphalt, slightly deforms when vehicles travel across the road, thereby producing electrical current.
ThesedeviceshavebeenimplementedbytheEastJapanRailwayCompany(underpedestriansubway
station gates) and by Innowattech (under roads in Israel). Innowattech has advertised that these
devices, if planted along a onekilometer stretch of road, could provide an average of 400 kW of
power,enoughtopower162WesternU.S.homes.[1,2]Thesedatasuggestthatpiezoelectricenergy
harvesting is a competitive, clean alternative energy source. In response to these findings, in 2011
CaliforniastateassemblymanMikeGattoproposedAssemblyBill306todevelopthistechnologyfor
Californianroads.[3,4]However,itisunclearwhetherthedatatrulyreflectthephysicallimitationsof
piezoelectricenergyharvesting.

Capacity
Thegeneratingcapacityofpiezoelectricdevicescanbecrudelyoverapproximatedbyassumingthat
thevibrationsintheroadarecausedbytrafficalone,andthateach"vibrationevent"fromonevehicle
is independent of another (i.e. the vibrations are sufficiently dampened before the next vehicle
passes). Under these assumptions, the total energy harvested by piezoelectric devices along a one
kilometerstretchisatmostthenumberofcarsthatpassmultipliedbythevibrationalenergythatone
cartransferstotheroad.Thisvibrationalenergycanbeoverapproximatedbytheenergythateachcar
consumesandputstomechanicalworkacrossthisstretch.Inotherwords,theenergyacarlosesto
vibrations in asphalt must be less than the energy a car puts to mechanical work over the one
kilometerstretch.Thisvaluecanbecomputedbymultiplyingtheenergyconsumedfromgasolineby
thermalefficiency.
ExpendedEnergy = (GasolineUsed)(EnergyDensityofGasoline)(ThermalEfficiency)

1km0.621mi/km2.8kg/gal4.43107J/kg0.4
20mi/gal

= 1.54MJ
This overestimation provides an appropriate upper bound to the amount of energy absorbed by
piezoelectricdevicesfromonecarmovingacrossaonekilometerstrip(i.e.nomorethan1.5MJ).Of
course, some of this "mechanical" (i.e. nonthermal) energy is lost as various forms of friction and
used for other processes inside the vehicle (such as air conditioning), and not nearly all of the
vibrationalenergywillbeabsorbedbythedevicesintheroad.Ifthedevicesareembeddedonabusy
street,thensuchastreetwillgenerateatmostthisamountofenergymultipliedbythenumberofcars
moving across the street. If such a street or highway sees an average of 600 vehicles per hour (as
assumedbyInnowattech),thentheenergyprovidedbythesedevicesonaonekilometerstretchcould
power at most 105 WesternU.S. homes (with a total of 257 kW). [1,2] If the calculation were
repeatedforonly18wheelers(withabout5mpg),themaximumamount of homes a onekilometer
stripcouldpowerwouldincreaseto421homes(with1MW).
However,amorereasonableapproximationcanbemadebyusingthefactthatapproximately5%of
theenergyconsumedbythecarislostasrollingfriction,althoughrollingfrictionaccountsforboth
internalfrictioninthewheelsandfrictionduetotheasphalt.[5]Byreplacingthermalefficiencyinthe
above equation with5%, the amount of energy released into the ground for one 20 mpg car would
decreaseto0.19MJ.Thisonekilometerstripcouldthenpoweratmost13homes(32kW)forthe20
mpg car, or 52 homes (128 kW) for an 18wheeler. For this calculation, there is still a major
assumptionthatallthevibrationalenergyoftheroadiscapturedbypiezoelectricdevices.
It is not clear whether the numbers currently used to quantify generatingcapacity are misguidedor
simply misreported, but under the optimistic assumptions stated above, piezoelectric devices over a
onekilometerstripofroadwillgeneratepowerforonlyabout15homes.Unlesstheroadcarriesonly
5mpgvehicles(ormanymorethan600vehiclesperhour),itisunlikelythatanywherenear400kW
ofpowercanbegeneratedfromonekilometer.

Profitability
Withthepriceofgasolinehoveringaround$4agallonforthepastyear,thecostofdrivinga20mpg
caracrossonekilometerisabout$0.124.Andbyrecentretailpricesofresidentialelectricityonthe
WestCoast,the0.19MJgeneratedbyonecarcostsabout$0.0064,oraboutonetwentieththecostof
thegasolineburnedacrossthisonekilometerstrip.[6]Atthisrate,theroadwillgeneratearevenueof
$33,565peryear.
Asanapproximate,thepriceofapiezoelectricdevicecanbeestimatedbyitsmostexpensiveelement,
namelythepiezoelectriccomponent.Thiscomponent,accordingtoInnowattech'spatent,iscomprised
of about 50% leadzirconate titanate (PZT) ceramic and is about 14142 cm3 in dimension. [7]
Giventhatpiezoelectricsheetsofthesamematerialcurrentlycost$165inbulkfromPiezoSystems
(for100sheetsof10.64cm3each),thecostpercm3ofthismaterialisabout$0.155.Sincethedevices
areembedded30cmapartfromeachotherandintworowsperlane,akilometerofatwowaystreet
willcontain13,333devices,eachdevicecosting$30.39,addingtoatotalof$405,253.Evenwithout
considering the manufacturing or installation costs, it would take about 12 years to earn back this
amountfromthedevicerevenue.

Conclusion

Generating capacity and profitability are two important factors to consider in choosing this energy
alternative.Thereis currently a significant cap on the generating capacity. Net profits will only be
seen after at least 12 years, as an underestimate. There are also many more "costs," besides the
financial costs of manufacturing and installation, to take into account, such as the environmental
impactofmanufacturingthePZTceramicsusedinInnowattech'sdevices.Whilepiezoelectricdevices
aregainingpopularity,theyarelesscapablethanpreviouslyclaimedbecauseofphysicallimitations.
RexGarland.Theauthorgrantspermissiontocopy, distribute and display this work in unaltered
form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including
commercialrights,arereservedtotheauthor.

References
[1] K. Diamond, "Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Ecosystems Committee
Newsletter,"AmericanBarAssociation,July2009.
[2]"AnnualEnergyReview2011,"U.S.EnergyInformationAdministration,DOE/EIA0384(2011),
September2012.
[3]"AssemblyBillNo.306,"CaliforniaLegislature,9Feb11.
[4]"LegislativeIndexandTableofSectionsAffected,"CaliforniaLegislature,30Nov12.
[5] A. Bandivadekar et al., "On The Road In 2035: Reducing Transportation's Petroleum
ConsumptionAndGHGEmissions,"MassachusettsinstituteofTechnology,LFEE200805RP,July
2008.
[6]"Electric Power Monthly with Data for August 2012," U.S. Energy Information Administration,
October2012.
[7]H.Abramovichetal., "Power Harvesting From Railway Apparatus, System and Method," U.S.
Patent7812508,12Oct10.