Yes, why not disguise the noise and intrusion where the roads already impose.

You know those horizontally rotating turbines - wouln't that same sort of shape rotate on a vertical pole under water in a current? Couln't seacurrents around sea-based turbines be used to generate power as well?

Oh, yes. Let's build a device with spinning blades and mount it at the same height as a walking person's head. Great idea! Sure to be a hit. (In more ways than one.)

Actually, some chinese company has started to mass produce these wind turbines PILSNER. Maybe you don't have the news where you live...check this out: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-11/05/content_7016626.htm

Oh, I have the news where I live, all right.

Judging by the contaminated food & lead paint coming out of China I'd have to guess they aren't overly concerned with product safety, lawyers, and environmental issues.

Just because someone is building it does not necessarily mean it's a good idea.

You got a point there...We're having a massive recall on toys here in Australia following toxic chemicals in the toys.

A friend of mine had this idea several years ago when he noticed the consistent windy conditions around the highway. Here's why I disagreed with the idea:1. The wind (for the most part) is being produced by the rapid movement of vehicles in one direction pushing the wind in front of them, pushing through it, or dragging it along with the car(roughly).2. The faster the wind moves in the same direction as the vehicles, the easier it is for the vehicles to move in that direction, and the less energy (fuel) it takes to maintain speed.3. If you introduce a series of wind turbines alongside the road (the right side specifically--see note 2 below), this will slow down the wind as it draws off its energy to turn the turbine. 4. As the wind slows, it makes it harder for the traveling vehicles to move through the air, which makes the engine work harder, which consumes more fuel (or for simplicity think of an electric car using more electricity).

So, you're harvesting the energy (wind) produced by all those independant (lets say electric) power plants, with all the accompanying losses due to friction,transmission loss, inefficiencies of the blades or other components, etc, so that you can put the remaining power back into the power lines to be used to charge up electric cars, and so on. It is a losing situation.

Two notes:1. Yes, if there were already a wind present (traveling in the direction of traffic) it would increase electricity production, but that would not decrease the losses felt by the cars since if the wind turbine was not there that same wind would be helping push them along instead of being 'sucked up' by the turbine. Your wind harvesting resources would be better put to use in a more traditional location where you are not fighting another man-made energy source.

2. Yes, if you had a two way highway with a median strip, and you put the wind turbine (VAWT) in the dead center of the strip, it would accept input from both sides of the highway as well as any natural cross-highway winds and may minimize the loss felt by the cars on both sides of the road (it equalizes the loss I think), but there would still be losses. And as I said above, the 'wind' that everyone sees is not a result of air moving naturally along the highways but rather is a direct result of the cars pushing that air.

The conclusion is that it is better to leave the energy with the vehicles by not introducing resistance in the form of turbines creating extra drag on the vehicles. It would be like recharging your electric car with a wind turbine that you stick out of the window while driving. Which leads to an idea that I had that I'll have to post here.

All that being said, if you are in a 'pass-through' area where mostly out-of-state traffic regularly runs on the highways, you could install the turbines as a rather convoluted (and inefficient) toll system by drawing off the power of the vehicles as described above and selling it to the grid. I'm not saying I like the idea, but you could do it.

I think if you want to put a wind generator by a road, I think the clearest way to get the close proximity you require is to put it in the road surface.

As with any wind generation, your energy will have to come from somewhere. I could believe an argument that says the wind will blow from the car whether there is a generator under it or not so it's free, but I personally would guess that the air drag would increase in the presence of a generator, that it's not 'free.' I'd love to see some testing of this. Probably the answer is partially both.

that was a good suggestion for someone out of the industry (i presume). it is very out of the square. some problems include:1) there are already much more feasable sites throughout the world2) a wind turbine tends to get most power from a large rotor diameter (diametr of its blade) and a hiegh tower height (where wind velocities are on average greater). your solution could not effectively harness the air flow at that height and have a large rotor diameter3) moving cars produce turbulent air flow as they pass (swirling around). which is not the idea flow of air for most wind - electric systems as it is4) the safety concerns as mentioned earlier (however this could if there were lots of energy to be tapped be mitigated)

however, small systems could possibly be used to power very small demand stand alone systems (such as charge batteries which power some LED lights on a roadside sign). anyway like i said, nice try; keep up the out of the square thinking.