Greenvangelical – Enviromental and Ecological News and Tips For A Greener Earth

As part of wining the bid to host the 2008 summer Olympics the Chinese government made assurances they would provide acceptable air quaility levels for the summer event. With the Olympics right around the corner the Times Online is reporting that the air quality is actually 5 times the safe air quality limit set by the World Health Organization. This is prompting widespread concern amongst athletes and may even cancel the Beijing Marathon.

The Chinese government has done little over the last decade to combat air pollution however there were hopes the being awarded the 2008 Olympics they would kick their “green campaign” into high gear both to protect the athletes and showcase Beijing as beacon of progress on the environmental front. It appears that this goal has not come to fruition. While it certainly is bad news for the athletes one can only hope that this debacle helps highlight to the world the environmental crisis caused by the voracious energy appetites of developing nations as well as put greater international pressure on the Chinese goverment to begin to tackle their environmental crisis.

The proposal is simple and logical. Use the displaced air (wind) of passing cars and trucks to generate electricity. While there are peaks and valleys in traffic volume its is no where near as drastic as that facing solar energy production – solar panels don’t work at night. The energy generated could be used to power local communities or the traffic lights along the highways. In my opinion this is a great out of the box thinking and could be used in other inventive ways, for example the wind generated by underground subways. Currently they use venting systems to expel the displaced air but to the best of my knowledge that air, and potential energy is not being used to generate electricity.

Thanks to Engadget for the report of this innovative idea.