Would You Like Hippies With That?
By Wyatt Earp | September 6, 2009
A Burger King in New Jersey is looking to harness green energy. Yes, New Jersey – home of the the whopper . . . landfill.
Can a fast food drive-thru lane actually provide clean green electricity?
A company called New Energy Technologies is betting on it. The firm has developed a prototype device it’s now testing at a Burger King in Hillside, New Jersey.
The “Motion Power Energy Harvester” is designed to capture kinetic energy from vehicles that would otherwise be lost when drivers hit the brakes to pick up their Whoppers.
It looks like a flattened speed bump with long pedals across the top that press down when tires roll over them. That force turns gears inside, generating 2000 watts of electricity instantaneously, according to the engineers who designed it. (H/T – FOXNews)
Okay, I’m no rocket scientist, but wouldn’t it be more efficient for Burger King to harness gas power?
Topics: Snarkasm | 11 Comments »
September 6th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Let me eat some BK onion rings and I could power Philly…
September 6th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
People eat at Burger King?
September 6th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
GroovyVic – Well, with the new addition, we could use a generator . . .
RT – Apparently so.
September 6th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
I had my first Whopper last week!
September 6th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Not sure if it’s viable, but the idea actually makes a little bit of sense.
Ever stop to think how much energy is wasted every day in america by brakes on cars?
September 7th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Happy to oblige, Wyatt!
September 7th, 2009 at 8:37 am
Mrs. Crankipants – Is that a euphemism?
Bob – Not really. I don’t use them. Heh.
GroovyVic –
September 7th, 2009 at 9:19 am
No, I’ve never been to a Burger King before. I had my first (and last) Whopper. Honestly, I was more impressed with my kid’s apple fries.
September 7th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
already done… but the participants in the pilot protested where the tubes had to be shoved to harvest the gas.
September 7th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Mrs. Crankipants – The fat me loved their onion rings and zesty sauce.
Rodney – Bawahahahahahaha!
September 9th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Depending on how you set that thing up, you could be harvesting waste energy that would have to be burned up in the brakes, or forcing the driver to give it more gas, thereby stealing power from the car.