BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 306
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Date of Hearing: April 25, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 306 (Gatto) - As Introduced: February 9, 2011
SUBJECT : Energy: piezoelectric transducers: study
SUMMARY : Requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) to
conduct research on piezoelectric transducers, including a
specified pilot project, and authorizes funding from the
Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Fund (AB
118 Fund).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the CEC to assess electricity infrastructure trends
and issues facing California and develop and recommend energy
policies for the state to address and resolve such issues as
part of its biennial Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR).
The IEPR covers three main subjects: electricity and natural
gas markets; transportation fuels, technologies and
infrastructure and; public interest energy strategies.
2)Directs about $70 million per year of energy utilities
ratepayer funds to the CEC to administer the Public Interest
Energy Research (PIER) Program. PIER funds are allocated
according to general statutory guidelines and a more specific
CEC-developed investment plan. Investments in research,
development and demonstration (RD&D) are permitted in energy
technologies that provide tangible benefits to the utility
customers who fund the program. Collection of funds for these
purposes currently is authorized until 2012.
3)Establishes the AB 118 Fund to support alternative vehicle
technologies and fuels as part of the California Alternative
and Renewable Fuel, Vehicle Technology, Clean Air, and Carbon
Reduction Act of 2007 (AB 118). AB 118 receives over $100
million per year from temporary surcharges on vehicle and
vessel fees. Collection of these fees currently is authorized
until 2016. This fund also receives $10 million/year from the
PIER Fund.
THIS BILL :
AB 306
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1)Requires the CEC to conduct research on the feasibility of
generating electricity using piezoelectric transducers under
major roadways.
2)Requires the CEC to collaborate with Caltrans to establish a
pilot project that would employ piezo-based energy harvesting
technology on two 100-meter strips of road, one in Northern
California, one in Southern California.
3)Authorizes the CEC fund the research and pilot project from
the AB 118 Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature.
4)Requires the CEC to report its findings in the 2013 IEPR.
5)Sunsets the above provisions January 1, 2015.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Background. Piezoelectricity is the charge which accumulates
in certain materials, such as crystals and ceramics, in
response to applied mechanical strain. The piezoelectric
technology installed under the surface of roads described in
this bill is patented by Israel-based Innowattech. According
to the firm's website:
Innowattech has developed a new technology, which enables
harvesting and conversion of mechanical energy of the
passing vehicles, wasted throughout movement, into
electrical energy. The mechanical energy is derived from
the compression stress created during the vehicles' travel
on road?The energy expended on the vehicle's movement is
mainly used to overcome rolling resistance, resistance
occurring when the wheel is moving forward on the road
surface. In addition to the energy used to move the wheel
forward (in the horizontal direction), part of the fuel
combustion is wasted on creating a deformation in the
asphalt, which is basically the product of the loaded
wheel's influence on the road surface? When a vehicle
passes over a road, the road deflects vertically. The
deflection is proportional to the weight of the vehicle and
the asphalt stiffness?Innowattech's generators are embedded
at a depth of about 5 cm; the area where the compression
stress is maximal. The external load results in the
AB 306
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deformation in both the asphalt layer covering the
generators and the generators ?The deformation of the
generator and the shortening of the piezoelectric columns
embedded in the generators, generate charges on the
piezoelectric columns that are the source for the electric
energy.
Innowattech claims, on the basis of mathematical models, that
its generators have a potential to generate an average of 200
kWh per hour for the highway with traffic of 600 heavy
trucks/buses per hour on average (very high traffic). These
estimates have not been confirmed and actual generation data
from Innowattech's demonstration projects in Israel is not
available to the committee. Existing research on
piezoelectric technology funded by the CEC's PIER program has
focused on the micro-watt scale. The CEC is not able to
estimate the potential or cost of the technology at larger
scales.
According to the CEC, the AB 118 Fund is over-subscribed at
current funding levels based on the 2008-10 solicitation.
Over 300 proposals were received totaling $1.5 billion, and
the CEC made 69 awards totaling $154 million. The 2010-11
fund balance was reduced 20% due to the slow economy and
reduced smog check and vehicle registration fees.
2)Should full-scale installation of this technology be mandated?
Although the requirements of this bill are posed as research,
the bill requires a specific "pilot project" consisting of the
installation of piezo-based energy harvesting technology on
two 100-meter strips of road. The bill requires the CEC to
allow local public agencies to submit bids for these pilot
projects, but Innowattech was the only potential vendor for
the technology described in the bill that the committee could
identify. Rather than mandating a specific pilot project, the
author and the committee may wish to consider authorizing the
CEC to conduct or fund demonstration projects as part of its
research so the CEC can decide whether and what type of
demonstration is appropriate.
3)Should the costs of the bill be borne by the AB 118 Fund? The
AB 118 Fund that this bill proposes to tap for piezoelectric
generation technology is currently reserved for specified
alternative fuel and vehicle projects. The current purpose of
the program is to develop and deploy innovative technologies
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that transform California's fuel and vehicle types to help
attain that state's climate change goals. Electric energy
generation projects are not eligible for AB 118 funds, but are
eligible for other existing funds depending on the technology
and nature of the project. The author and the committee may
wish to consider whether this bill should be funded by AB 118
or by another program funded by electric energy customers,
such as PIER.
4)Double referral. This bill is doubled-referred to the
Transportation Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Channel Technologies
Environmental Defense Fund
Innowattech
POWERleap
Qibing Pei, Professor of Materials Science & Engineering, UCLA
Sierra Club California
State Building and Construction Trades Council of California
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092