A Sainsbury’s store is about to introduce a revolutionary scheme that will use the weight of cars to power enough energy to run their tills.
The scheme has already been successfully trialled in one of the supermarkets depots. As vehicles drive over specially designed plates, the weight will cause a rocking motion under the road via a system of hydraulic pipes that will turn a generator. The generator created energy which is captured and redirected to the store to provide electricity to power the shopping tills.
There is the alternative argument that this is not green energy because is coming from cars which are obviously big pollutants. Shop local is certainly an important mantra. Additionally, if the car is forced to slow down over the plates, some say this is fuel inefficient and therefore the customer is paying for the electricity through their extra fuel bill!
Always a conundrum!