Jan 6, 2008

The Road to Sustainability

It's sick to think about the gross amount of asphalt and concrete that covers the United States, when you consider it's bare nature just 100 years ago. Then, on top of that you have the millions of miles of power lines and phone lines that lace our neighborhoods and cities. Now, with these new ideas of sustainability and pv tech, and harnessing the wind, we begin to see these huge farms of solar equipment and windmills pop up where mountains and farms once stood. This image is almost as disturbing as the millions of miles of roads and power lines. I much prefer amber waves of grain to ebony waves of silicon. The idea that we could use an infrastructure that is already in place to capture energy that is already being wasted is something exciting to me. It makes the highway infrastructure more of a lifeline for America. Right now, we call it a "lifeline", an artery that carries all our goods and all our citizens, but with the new carbon concerns and all around environmental concerns, the idea of the highway being an important part of America is becoming less and less appealing. Think urban farming and local grown food.

So, today I read an article about a Dutch company who is working on a system to siphon heat energy off the roads to heat houses and local businesses. This sounds like a brilliant idea for America if you ask me. Considering the American Life, and the suburbs as we know it, was founded on the creation of a highway network linking everyone to everything, it isn't hard to imagine the immense amount of power one could generate. In the case that the local ideas stated above are embraced, the roads are not a forgotten infrastructure but live on to power our towns and neighborhoods. And while we are at it, with thin film solar, why not embed solar into our roads? The highways are generally clear of tree shadows and building interruption, save car traffic...

We are moving away from the idea of the car and the suburb. Every year our cities grow larger and larger as suburbanites abandoned their commutes and make their way to city living. As we move away from the car, away from the suburbs, and into this new sustainable life style, the roads will not only be seen as a means to travel but also as a farm for harvesting the suns energy to power our homes and businesses. This allows the highway to live on as a life line for America, yet at the same time, revolutionize both.

AP: New Energy Use for Asphalt : via Treehugger

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