Hi-tech road uses cars to generate electricity

LONDON'S rush-hour traffic could soon help power the capital, scientists claimed today.

Researchers are set to begin trials of a road surface that uses the movement of cars to create electricity. The system works in a similar way to the power-generating dance floor already used in one London nightclub.

As cars drive over the road, they "squeeze" tiny crystals that produce a small amount of energy. By embedding thousands of the crystals, useful amounts of electricity can be produced.

The Israeli engineers behind the project, based at the Technion Institute in Haifa, claim that a 1km stretch of the asphalt will generate 400 kilowatts - enough power to run eight small cars.

Innowattech, the Israeli company behind the research, plans to unveil the first road to use the system next month. The firm is also developing a similar system for railways, and for horizontal escalators used in airports.

If the system was installed on every stretch of British motorway, experts say it would make enough energy to run 34,500 small cars.