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Rollercoasters and the environment

CoasterCrazy

CoasterCrazy

Giga Poster
Coasters aren't exactly the most eco friendly things in the world and the energy bill for them is usualy massive...but actually roller coasters have lots of different types of energy (like kinetic) and perhaps could be used to one day sve the world...

Some rides already have small wind turbines on the tops of lift hills but that's not exactly generating that much...if only there was a giant solar panel on top of KK...

What are you're ideas for saving the environment with coasters? Here are some...

http://www.unsoughtinput.com/index.php/ ... r-coaster/
http://www.youtube.com/user/wwwCOASTERF ... fUs8PoXyak

Please reply! :--D
 
CoasterCrazy said:
Some rides already have small wind turbines on the tops of lift hills but that's not exactly generating that much...if only there was a giant solar panel on top of KK...
Click to expand...
Wait... what?

You mean these things?
anemometer.jpg


Haha! They're speed gauges, otherwise known as anemometers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anemometer

Mini-wind turbines... :roll:
 
The Turbo Drachen at Potts Park is powered by solar panels. Freischütz use the LSM's that launch the train to break the coaster at the end of the ride, and when it do that they convert the kinetic energy of the train to electricity to the next launch, by doing this they can save around 25-30% of the power needs of a similar coaster without regenerative brakes (number is a rough estimate based on the data Bayern Park have supplied).

Also that thing at Washuzan Highland is a Cycle Railway, not a coaster...
 
Rollercoasters by their nature don't use much energy considering their popularity (within a park).

A Mondial Top Scan will use more than a 167 foot SLC.
 
^^Cycle railway then, it was more for the idea though...

I have several ideas myself...

-Many rides have tunnels (eg, vampire) in which the train goes through at high speeds...if someone was to disguise a small wind turbine (not an an anemometer)then...
-The wheels on the car drive a small generator that leads to a battery, that is collected at the end of the day...

^^It's nice to know that one park is bothering but would it be possible to generate more power than is used to propell the ride? Maybe not?
 
Here's me reading the topic title and thinking it could be an interesting topic. You know, about how much energy coasters/parks use etc. Not that I give much of a ****, but it might have been interesting to find out.

Instead, what do I get when I open the topic? "Wind turbines" (just, just what that actual hell) on top of coasters and "how can coasters save the planet?"

I'm actually losing the will to live right now. Had a **** day at work and the first topic I look at in here is this.
 
^^ You are talking perpetual motion in your last bit, never going to happen...

On the other things though:
1:st one, there are other ways to get much more energy at then a coaster train going through a tunnel.
2:nd one, by doing that you are going to remove kinetic energy from the train, which would mean that it will slow down, which force you to reduce the size/length of the coaster, which makes for a very boring coaster in the end...

As Tom G said, roller coasters are very energy efficient, especially those with a lift, if you are able to recover energy with regenerative braking, as Freishütz, then launch coasters aren't that bad either...
Also about Freishütz, it was the manufacturer that wanted to install such a system to the ride, just to show what they are capable of and since the park itself is pretty close by if anything goes wrong (as it did when I were there).
 
Expanding on Leofet, if you've ever tried to wind a manual generator, then you'll know it gets harder work as you wind faster. It's a similar thing to how magnetic brakes work, though I think slightly different (brakes slow down with eddy currents, and generators have back emf... ). The only way a rollercoaster has of slowing down is by frictional energy losses and drag (which is technically also friction). Add generators on the wheels and it would slow down more. Not to mention the amount of energy you could recover that way would be minuscule compared to what you'd put in.
 
loefet said:
^^ You are talking perpetual motion in your last bit, never going to happen...
Click to expand...

Actually, Alton are adding an engine to the Runaway Mine Train that uses a cat with a buttered back to produce perpetual energy for the ride... ;)
 
^ Nope never, you will eventually run out of butter or wear out the cat, trust me I know... :p
 
loefet said:
^ Nope never, you will eventually run out of butter or wear out the cat, trust me I know... :p
Click to expand...

Attach a paddle to the cat's tail that goes into a vat of milk from a cow also attached to the ride. Therefore butter can be generated.

Cats are readily available to replace worn one, the internet is made of them... Come on Loefet, we want solutions, not problems!!! ;)
 
Then add some Cheezeburgers so the cat's will run faster but be aware of the Bucket...
 
**** sake. Sorry but this topic is ****. Seriously, if parks/rides were this bad on the environment and/or energy consumption of the national grid, they'd have been stopped by now. The thing is, with the amount of money parks make for the government, they don't exactly care, some parks are also known to produce some energy and feed it back into the National Grid/Electric Grid.
 
^ Actual lol.

These ideas all sound like Troll Physics.... Oooh I have one, a wave energy generator in the splashdown lagoon of shoot the chute rides.
 
Gazza said:
^ Actual lol.

These ideas all sound like Troll Physics.... Oooh I have one, a wave energy generator in the splashdown lagoon of shoot the chute rides.
Click to expand...

Um. You couldn't tell I was being sarcastic on that last sentence? Obviously they don't do that, why on earth would they feed it back to the National Grid if they could use it for their own needs? :roll:
 
...wind turbines...no...

Only thing that really would be possible is the stopping power creating energy, much like a hybrid car does. In fact toyota talked about developing it in a commercial a little while back.

Other than solar power and hybrid-style recharge, there's no other way.
 
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