Sensors to create clean energy from moving vehicles

Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) in the US has awarded a $1.32m contract to researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) to design and develop sensors that can harvest and convert energy created by moving vehicles on roadways into renewable electricity.

TxDOT has awarded the contract as part of the jointly funded Federal Highway Administration’s state research programme. This system would also enable TxDOT to monitor the health of roadways in order to bolster traveller safety. The system would also be made from low-cost piezoelectric materials and sensors, and therefore, would not increase pavement maintenance costs.