Can I Get Fries With That Energy Harvest?

Journalist Eric Schlosser believes we're a Fast Food Nation. Of course, many of those trips to pick up some quick-and-easy meals are made even quicker and easier with the drive-thru. One can imagine the number of cars that pass through your typical drive-thru on a daily basis. If only all those cars waiting for all those high-calorie meals could be doing something other than idling while waiting.

According to this GreenBiz.com article, they actually can. New Energy Technologies is testing out what's called a "roadway energy harvesting system" at a Burger King in Hillsdale, N.J., along with at two hotels, one in Washington, D.C., and one in Baltimore. What's a roadway energy harvesting system, exactly?

"The systems consist of strips laid on the road that cars push down on as they roll over them. They're designed to absorb energy in places where vehicles are already slowing down, avoiding any arguments that the system would cause vehicles to expend more energy to get over — costing the drivers more in fuel — while giving free energy to businesses."

New Energy also has a system for creating energy from heavy trucks, at places such as truck stops and weigh scales. They also would like to use the systems in higher-traffic areas. With the number of passenger vehicles today (more than 250 million in the United States alone, according to recent estimates), there's a lot of energy that could be created, should these systems work as well as the company hopes.

Photo courtesy of jasonawhite, via Flickr