BBC NEWS | Ramp creates power as cars pass

Here's a story of an interesting alternate energy resource. The kinetic power from cars moving along the highway. Ramp creates power as cars pass (BBC, December 16, 2005) The article shows a picture of a small metal ramp installed in the road, angled such that as the car rides over the ramp, the ramp will move down. Presumably there's something underneath that spins a generator to make electricity.

It says the ramps are silent, comfortable and safe. I don't quite buy silent, as it's clearly going to make some noise (it's a metal gizmo being driven over by cars). It's also going to remove some of the inertia from cars, hence it will degrade gasoline efficiency a bit (otherwise we'd have a violation of some laws of physics).