Free wind power
posted by Bigtreehouse on 4 December 2007 3:45
Problem context :
Ever stood on the curb waiting to cross the street and a truck drives by and almost blows you over? Ever had that happen with a car? Rode a bike down the road and had any vehicle pass you? What do all these things have in common? Free wind.
We use more power every year. Wind power is clean... but expensive. Solar is clean... yet expensive. Hydroelectric... been done. Why not tap into an unlimited source? Moving vehicles. More specifically, high speed moving vehicles!
Proposed Solution :
Small, easily replaceable wind generators. To put in places that are frequented by cars... preferably fast moving in large quantitys... like a freeway.
The idea is to place multiple wind generators next to the freeway. Cars go by and the wind turns the generators, generators create a little power, linked genorators feed power along to a central location. (See Image)
Thought of this idea driving down the freeway through Portland, Or. They have these green plastic/rubber... blinds sticking up on the center baricade to block the headlights of oncoming traffic from blinding you.
*Crap: 
Looking for images to give you an idea of what I am talking about... I found what I invented. Although the two I found are a lot more complicated and expensive. Both ideas call to re-vamp or re-design Jersey Barriers. This would be expensive and troublesome. Whatever you do to the existing design will have to not effect it's origonal purpose. This idea puts a wind generator in the barrier (See image). How does this deflect speeding cars back onto the road?
So here is my idea (although not origonal... as I thought). Little wind generators in a section (12' 6" long) to sit on top of existing 
Jersey Barriers. Run them in seriese so the power gets sent down the line to a central controle box and then to the power grid. Someone crashes into the barrier it's easy to repair/replace the damaged section. Best part is you use the barriers that are already there.
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ask yourself these questions
answered by wmcleod on 8 December 2007 0:20
If you want to be a better inventer, take this opportunity to ask yourself some real world questions.
Why doesn't this already exist? (it's not because someone didn't think of it, as you found while looking for images)
Who is the target customer? (if you were to go to your backyard and make 5,000 what would you do with them)
Where does the energy come from? (no energy is free, you are making the cars less efficient, by loosing drafting effects)
What makes this better than existing wind power generators?
Your idea isn't necessarily bad, but it takes a lot to find the right "fit" especially for this website