Beijing, June 25 -- Marking a strong scientific breakthrough in the development of clean energy, Chinese scientists have invented a device capable of converting the friction between vehicle tires and roads into clean electricity.
The device, called the roadbed tribological energy harvester (RTE harvester), presents a novel approach to harnessing a vast and previously untapped source of energy.
An estimated 85% of a car's energy is lost to heat and friction, with tire-road interaction alone holding an untapped energy potential of around 0.3 terawatts annually worldwide, equivalent to the yearly output of 30 dams of the Three Gorges project in China.
The researchers from Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems (BINN) un...