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Collins7-code/road-energy-ghana

Domain:

environment and energy

Record type:

project
Creator:
Col
Host:
⚡ Modelling kinetic energy from vehicles on Ghana's roads 🇬🇭— and how many homes it could power. Built at 17, on a phone, in SHS # ⚡ Road Energy Potential in Ghana ) > *What if the cars stuck in Accra traffic were quietly generating electricity?* This project models how much **kinetic energy** could be harvested from vehicles moving on Ghana's roads (regenerative braking / piezoelectric surfaces) and translates it into **homes powered**, region by region — with both a static notebook and a **live interactive app**. 🧑🏾‍💻 Built by **Collins**, 17 — a SHS sophomore in Ghana — on a phone. ## 🎮 Try the live app 👉 **Open the interactive dashboard— drag the sliders (efficiency, trips/day, km/trip) and watch the numbers change. ## ❓ The question Ghana loses productive hours to *dumsor*. Meanwhile millions of vehicles carry enormous kinetic energy, wasted as brake heat. **Could we capture a fraction of it — and how many homes would it light up?** ## 🧠 Approach 1. 16-region vehicle dataset (cars, buses, trucks, motorcycles) anchored to DVLA & GSS. 2. Kinetic energy per vehicle: **KE = ½·m·v²**, adjusted by a regional road-quality factor. 3. **25%** energy-capture efficiency (slider-adjustable in the app). 4. Joules → **kWh/month** → divide by regional household use (ECG-based) → **homes powered**. ## 📊 Key results (at 25% efficiency) | Metric | Value | |---|---| | 🚗 Vehicles modelled | 3,850,000 | | ⚡ Monthly energy potential | 37,082,838 kWh | | 🏠 Homes powered | 152,899 | | 🇬 Share of ~6M households | ≈ 2.55% | | Region | Vehicles | Monthly kWh | Homes | |---|---:|---:|---:| | Greater Accra | 1,200,000 | 7,682,825 | 25,609 | | Ashanti | 750,000 | 6,640,625 | 23,716 | | Western | 320,000 | 4,157,633 | 16,630 | | Eastern | 260,000 | 3,317,708 | 14,424 | | Northern | 180,000 | 2,582,556 | 12,912 | | Central | 280,000 | 2,552,083 | 10,633 | | Volta | 150,000 | 1,856,424 | 8,840 | | Bono | 140,000 | 1,636,632 | 7,439 | | Upper East | 90,000 | 1,233,575 | 6,492 | | Upper West | 70,000 | 898,548 | 4,857 | | Bono East | 95,000 | 933,181 | 4,147 | | Savannah | 55,000 | 741,301 | 3,801 | | Ahafo | 85, …