The Relevance of Piezoelectricity

When a mechanical stress is applied to certain materials, electrons flow through it producing electricity; such materials are called piezoelectric.

What is the practical applicability of this to generating useful amounts of power?  Essentially nil.  Keep in mind the law of energy conservation; every Joule of energy generated means a Joule consumed–actually more than one, due to losses.  This is why it’s not feasible to put this in roads; doing so would cause more fuel to be consumed.

Now, since people have extra energy they don’t need that comes from the chemical energy in the food they eat (often overeat), senior energy analyst Glenn Doty surmises that is may be feasible to put a large piece of piezoelectrical material in an area that has constant and heavy foot traffic, e.g., entrances to the Empire State Building or Grand Central Station, but he’s unsure of that.

Wanna see something that definitely won’t work?  Here’s a piece of fraudulent information that suggests scientists are making solar panels that covert the kinetic energy of raindrops into electricity.  Ahhhhhh….no.