Green Energy
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Green energy is a subject everyone is talking about lately, and as interest grows, the powers-that-be look for more ways to misinform people and squeeze an extra penny out of them. This is a great example in the UK. Supermarket chain, Sainsbury’s have announced they have opened a “people powered,” store in Gloucester, which will utilize energy from passing cars to power the checkout tills.
The idea is that every time a car rolls over a plate set into the road, a small amount of kinetic energy will be transferred through the plates which power a generator to produce the electricity, which, according to Sainsbury’s representative and the makers of the system is totally “free.”
Which it is – to them. Unless some clever devil sneakily changed the laws of physics while no one was looking, this “free,” energy merely steals a tiny bit of energy from the passing car, causing a tiny increase in fuel consumption and a tiny increase in pollution emissions. Sainsbury’s coincidentally is one of the UK’s biggest suppliers of fuel.
- Conservation of energy
The law of conservation of energy states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant. A consequence of this law is that energy cannot be created nor destroyed.
Yet the newspapers are full of stories about how “green,” this development is. And presumably the Lord who runs the company had a word with the Lord who screws millions out of the taxpayer at the BBC to give this some good press, because the BBC are all over it. There is a diagram of how the system is designed to work on the right.
Certainly the amount of fuel stolen from each passing motorist will be barely noticed, but that is not the point. According to all the bullshit press releases, the system will apparently produce 30 kW of energy per hour, but it is certainly not green and it most definitely is not free. Sainsbury’s are not paying for it, but free energy? Pull the other one.
I imagine the ongoing maintenance costs of this system must surely outweigh the cost savings. I can’t really decide what the point of this is – cars are not exactly the most efficient way of producing energy, and this will merely serve to slow them down a tad and make them slightly less efficient. There is an argument that if these plates are positioned in such a place as cars are already braking, it will be taking energy that would have been wasted anyway, but from what I have seen, the plates are on a flat surface and the only reason to brake is for the plates.
Yet another piece of disinformation to add to the collection of rubbish I already have in my head. It certainly looks to be a rather inefficient way of generating electricity but as usual – the ones who will end up paying for it are the ones who do not get any benefit. I guess my real issue with this is that it is an obvious attempt to portray the company as environmentally aware while doing the opposite. If Sainsbury’s really cared about the environment, they would stop flying in wild Alaskan hoojimawhotsits from outer Mongolia and start refusing to sell products that are heavily over-packaged. But there isn’t any money in that. In the meantime, I will be driving around any mysterious plates in the road.
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Scary isn't it?
Whatever next! Good hub. There's a lot of wool out there!
Just one more example in the belief the media is 'unbiased' or that they can actually report 'the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth'!!!
Thanks for yet another great hub!
Well, that's a new one! Hidden agenda plus media spin equals more garbage! Thanks for an interesting hub.
Well done for highlighting this Mark. I have highlighted this in my blog (Find it via my profile - don't want to post the address here as that will just be shameless plugging) twice now, as I believe it is a ridiculous plan for the reasons you outline. In addition, it is ridiculous as it will result in more greenhouse gases than even generating the electricity in a coal powered plant, since cars are a lot less efficient. I'm normally a very strong renewable energy supporter, but in no way is this renewable energy!
Plug away :)
"Green energy" is the new buzz word, isn't it? The goal of any business is to maximize profits for the benefit of the shareholders. It only makes sense that they use these buzz words to rope in potential cunsumers. The consumer, in the end, is always going to get shafted.
Here in the States, there was a big push for the use of ethenol and biodiesel fuel, even though it is an inferior fuel and less efficient. As you are probably aware, biodiesel and ethenol are produced from agricultural products, mainly corn. The agricultural lobbiest are the biggest pushers of biodiesel legislation. More money for farmers. The biggest pushers of "green" are not concerned with the environment, they're concerned with maximizing profit.
@ lwr - I agree - in this case it is masked by the appearance of ethical behavior - and that bothers me. I know I am getting screwed, but this is what I consider to be very, very bad ethics. I will never shop at Sainsbury's again.
Good hub, Mark. Neither Parliament nor Congress can revoke Newton, eh?
Nor the BBC :)
Well as Mark so kindly gave me permission, my simple blog post on my views of electricity generating speed bumps: http://renewableuk.blogspot.com/2009/02/electricty
Good post. Looks like we are on the same page. Like the speed cameras save lives. lol
Good one Mark. Just more capitalist crap being dumped upon the consumer zombies.
Yup - no wonder they keep cutting the education budget in the UK. Wouldn't do if the local populace understood any physics lol
In the US we could sue the company and shut them down for stealing from the consumer. Many lawayers would be anxious to get this case
Keep on Hubbing!
lol - I like it - you aren't suing the banks for stealing all your money though so..... :)
eovery is not really correct.
Deregulation and legislation favoring the corporatocracy has made it nearly impossible to sue corporations.
Even if a suit can be brought there are caps to the damages that can be won.
Yes - I wonder why the banks are not being sued. Or even the Federal government for mismanagement?
Mark, great hub. This is another example of why the green movement fails to expand beyond its radical base.
It's kind of like curbside recycling. Yes, the materials get recycled, but it costs how much in fuel for the second big truck to collect it and the asbestos from the brakes on the truck every time it makes a stop?
I think it more a case of the destructive aspect jumping on the band wagon actually.
I am all for green - just stop shitting me when it is actually grey. :)
Sooner or later - we run out of stuff to consume - but this is BS.
I think if we looked closer, I have a feeling several green items may be more gray than green. Al Core is a classic on that. He is set to be one of the richest people in the world on all this green stuff. Therefore I take the stance that he cannot be trusted.
The buzz word in advertising is green now. That is all you here. Are they telling the truth or blowing hot air?
And a beg to differ with Cold War Baby, there are several avenues to fight it, From state consumer protection agencies to civil court. You may win only 50% of the time, but there are ways. Even talking to you congressman can help to get it done.
Keep on Hubbing.
Oh I am sure you are right. I do not think the little guy will ever be in a position to challenge this though. Let's face it - the systematic rape of our financial system is going to ensure we all have zero power very soon.
Many do not realize that biodiesel can be made from animal renderings and not just corn. Only in this messed up country would be use the corn for fuel and the renderings to make Little Debbie cupcakes. It should be the other way around.
lol - Good point. :( Little Debbie cup cakes? Sounds sinister.
Hi Mark
Not biblical now.
I wonder why Sainsburys, Tesco and the likes just dont put Solar panels on their vey large roofs, then there is enough to even supply the electricity, via inverters, and batteries.
But then this would mean spending, and recovering cost right.
They are not really interested in doing this for a number of reasons, most of which are political. They are one of the biggest sellers of gas in the UK and the family that owns them has strong connections with the financial institutions and government Inc.
And I must admit, England is not the sunniest place on the planet lol
This thing annoys me beause of teh massive amount of positive spin being generated when in fact it is of little or no positive use.
Yes you are right there.
I have tinkered for years, on fuel saving devices, and all worked but to try and get it to market is the problem. Cars can run on water, thats been proven years ago. The same concept can be used on Planes and ships, But the oil and gas is the problem. The cartels will flatten it.So the only solution is to build it and run it yourself and get yourself off the grid for gas and electricity.
But I suppose if you live in the ugly Estates of the UK it would be hard to please the neighbours.
lol - I live in France and I am most disappointed at the religious/political reasons given for not allowing solar panels. It is illegal to place a solar panel within 200 meters of a church lol
I have a friend in the design department of Jaguar - they had a "lean burn" engine developed in the 1960s but were persuaded not to release it until such times as the price of fuel was higher.
Mark, i have a question about your logic on this hub. I'm no expert in this so please feel free to point out clearly my complete lack of understanding if i get this wrong but... if these plates absorb energy from the downward motion of the plate as the car drives over it, is it not the transfer of energy from gravity, and not from the energy of the car? Is it not using the car's weight to push the plates down thus capturing the motion as energy? If they positioned this in an entrance to a petrol station it is likely the car is slowing down and therefore would not need to use more petrol to speed up again and therefore no more fuel would actually be used up in the process.
I haven't actually seen this in real life, just what i have read on your hub so i admit i may have this all wrong.
Mark
It doesn't surprise me concerning the solar panels, but then frogs are frogs.
I just put up a hub on my designs and such in my earlier days experimenting with petrol saving devices.
Go well
@ hubbly:
The simple fact is when it depresses the plate, it must use energy to come up off the plate afterwards. You cannot create energy from nowhere. I guess if it was perfectly situated, there might be a benefit, but the ongoing maintenence and installation of this sytem seem awfully waseful way of doing things. The comncensus amongst the few physicists I heave read on the subject is that this does not work the way it is sold.
It is certainly not green. Check this article out:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/20
@hoowantstono - I will stop by and take a gander.
LOL Another water-4-gas thingy :D
LOL - Only you are forced to use this one every time you visit lol
I guess you could fit these on a downhill slope so that gravity can be used to depress the plates and keep the cars momentum going to come off the plates too. This would not solve any maintenance problems, and would also not work in supermarkets that have no downhill sections on their premises!
I guess there must be better options out there!
I guess so. I am not convinced they are worth the trouble. That article I linked to made a good argument for not bothering because even if they worked, they produce so little energy they are not a viable alternative.
I am sure if all cars carried a magnet under the car and the state inserted coils in the road, then all cars will be generators.
But then they could harness the stray magnetic fields from the cars alternators as cars drive along the roads
It is as good a suggestion as these things :)
Mark
From the moment that I clicked on to your hubpage profile, over a dozen cookies tried to make a deposit on my computer. This included your personal website.
In addition, without selecting anything on this hubpage, several more cookies were attempting to make a deposit.
Wouldn't you like to be asked before someone dumps tags on your computer.
Most of this is done by the geniuses of hubpages, but your personal website is your responsibility.
Hubpages is getting the benefit of people like you writing thousands of words and getting no real pecuniary reward.
Cookies is too polite and deceptive a term for what is its real purpose.
What are you talking about? Are you saying hubpages did something to your computer?
I get a pecuniary reward.
He's ducking an opinion :D
You know what he is talking about?
Hey Duckkie
You pc settings to accept cookies is either on or off . take your pick
Not really. Prolly some kind of modern conspiracy theory based on cookies. Ducked out somewhere a free soft allowing him to watch the cookies set on his machine, and now is getting overwhelmed with their sheer numbers :D
This is the first I have heard of such thing. I just shake my head and call them all idiots!
We are the idiots unfortunately :(
Lots of sites set tracking cookies without your knowledge or consent, third party and whatnot, when you access the site.
Google is very big on this. It allows them to track your surfing habits for use in advertising analytics.
There are ways to block them for anyone who cares to do the research.
Using Firefox as your browser can be helpful in this area.
I think opinion dUck might be mispelled.
Seems to be missing an "eff" lol
Not really sure what it has to do with this hub either,,,,,,,
That's a good point that you stated, the maintenance will be costly, period!
People want to do the right thing. Here in Nevada they built a $100 million Solar Farm. But the farm only saves $1 million a year! So the ROI is going to be negative. Sure it's a good idea, but at what cost? So many green technologies rely on rare earth elements so they can not be scaled long term. The solutions often look good on paper but are not real once implemented.
Really Interesting hub, I think there will be more and more in the coming years on green energy. I always wonder what's taking so long to develop these green alternative energies to power our cars, homes and industries. You may a really good point in that not all solutions advertised as green are in fact green. Thanks for sharing, voted Up and Interesting!
APD Marketing 2 years ago
Hi Mark,
It never ceases to amaze me how the media can "spin" any situation to portray the story they want! And...playing "spin games" with the environment is probably the worst sin of all!
Well done for highlighting this!
Cheers
Derek