Wind power from speeding vehicles is what these students want

Bengaluru - It could partly power streetlights and traffic lights

These days India is in the grip of a reformist zeal. Demonetization, Aadhaar, GST (Goods Service Tax), and so it goes. On the side, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' campaign is quietly finding a foothold. One of the fields where innovation and enterprise are happening with regularity is the alternative energy sector. 
Prashanth D, Prathik S, Sampath Kumar B and Rahul B are final-year mechanical engineering students from Sri Venkateshwara College of Engineering (SVCE). Their objective is not entirely new: it is merely to tap wind energy. But their mission has a different and smart source of power.
The distance from Bengaluru city to the airport is a good 35km. And it's relatively a free road. The four young men would like to plant slim, vertical wind turbines, rather like lamp posts, on road dividers. The source of the energy is not just wind turbulence. The major source is automobiles and buses speeding at 80km per hour.
"The system works by converting kinetic energy from wind into electrical power. The turbines are designed to rotate even at low wind speeds, say, 1.5 meters per second.  But that's one part of the operation. Since the highway is meant for high-speed vehicles, their turbulence is much more. And that's what we are trying to tap," says Prashanth.
They aim to generate electricity up to 45 volts, and that could partly power streetlights and traffic lights. These turbines are trim, and fabricated in aluminium. The electricity generated can be stored in batteries and used for whatever purpose.
The power generation also depends on the scale of the operation. If the government plans to employ a greater number of turbines and can find the space to install them in the city, it is possible to light up the whole city.
Since wind energy is freely available, it could be put to use across the highways of India, according to the students.
The turbines are detachable, and portable. As the four entrepreneurs see it: "There are a lot of high-rise buildings in the city. The turbines can be kept on terraces or balconies to generate and store power for domestic use as well."
The ease with which wind energy can be stored would find future applications, too. "In the near future, electric cars would be widely in use. We could use this energy for battery charging, for example. It is also possible to set up battery-charging stations," according to the students.
The team was mentored by Prof Shridhar Deshpande. Deshpande stresses on the relative cost-friendliness of the project. "The total cost of one unit assembled by the students inclusive of the circuits amount to Rs 6,500. Depending on the scale of production the cost would come down."
While everybody associated with the project is excited by their brainwave, they must get the permission of the National Highway Authority of India before they can make a practical move. That process is underway.

• India