Abstract
The rapid increase in energy demand has resulted in more dependence on fossil fuels, which leads to higher CO2 emissions every year. To overcome this problem, shifting from fossil fuel-based energy resources to renewable and sustainable ones is essential. One of the new research areas developed in this context is the harvesting of energy from urban infrastructures and, in particular, roads. A large amount of energy in the form of heat or kinetic energy is wasted annually on roads. Recovering these local forms of energy as electricity would improve the energy efficiency of cities. In this review paper, recent developments in the field of energy recovery from roads using solar panels, piezoelectric, thermoelectric and electromagnetic harvesters are discussed along with their efficiency, cost and field implementation. Moreover, new advancements in developing compatible energy storage systems are also discussed and summarised. Based on the review, although all of these systems have the potential of recovering at least a part of the wasted energy, only one of them (the electromagnetic converters) is capable of generating a considerable energy level. In addition, based on the evaluation of the maturity of the technologies, and their cost analyses, more studies are required in order to fill the gap between the current state of the technologies and their full operational form.
Highlights
Most of our current energy resources are based on fossil fuels
Implementing energy harvesting technologies can turn these infrastructures into a source of energy
Electromagnetic road energy harvesting systems are mainly developed as speed bumps, which are known facilities of roads, to increase safety
Summary
Most of our current energy resources are based on fossil fuels. Due to the increasing trend in energy demand, there is an essential need for renewable and more sustainable sources of energy. In 2017, the transportation industry in the UK consumed energy equivalent to 56.5 million tons of oil, of which more than 97% was resourced from the oil industry [1] While this massive amount of energy is consumed, a considerable part of it is wasted in different forms such as vibration and heat [2,3]. Zhao et al investigated the potential energy from trucks for a road with 600 V/h of traffic in one lane and estimated that almost 150 kWh energy is produced by passing vehicles in 1 km of the road [4] This substantial energy is used to deform, vibrate and warm up the surface of the road and can be a good source for converting and harvesting it. In the following sectionT, hthisepcaopnecreips tasroevf idewiffeorfetnhte efonremrgeyrlycoconnvdeurscitoedn rseyssetaermchswaorerkesxipnltahinisefdielbdr.ieInflyth. e Afofltleorwwinagrds, ansoevcteirovni,etwheocfotnhceerpetcseonft dstiuffderieenstoefnpeiregzyoecloencvtreircsihoanrvsyesstteemrsswairtehedxipfflearinenedt gberoiemflye.trAiefstearrwearredvsi,eawned, whoivcherivsiefwolloofwtehde breyceanstusmtumdiaersyoof fptiheezoneelewctwricorhkasrvaensdterdsewveiltohpdmifefenrtesnitngtehoemrmetorieelsecatrreicrehvairevweesdte, rs, andwheliechctrisomfolalgowneetdicbsyysatesummsmaraerysuobfstehqeuneenwtlywporreksseanntdedd.eFvienloalplym, ernectsenint athdevramnoceelsecintriecnhearrgvyesstteorrsa,ge meatnhdodelsecatrreomouatglnineetidc,saynstdemthsearlaesstusbescetqiounenstulympmreasreinsteesdt.hFeinmalalyin, repcoeinnttsadovfatnhciesspinapeenreragnydstporreasgeents sugmsugegetsghteoisodtnisosanfrsoefroofruufttuluitnrueerdes,tsuatdnuddieisethsineinltahtshetefisfeeiceldtlid.o.n summarises the main points of this paper and presents
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