(no subject)

[filkertom]

Roger Ebert's blog alerts us to YERT:

This is one of a number of incredible projects competing for a $200 million development grant. You can find out more about the project, and vote for them, at http://www.solarroadways.com/vote.shtml.

Comments

[lariss.livejournal.com]

I SO voted for this - and reposted the link. This is what I keep yammering about when I say that green innovation and green tech is the only real route to revitalization - in this country and in the entire global community. To these fellows, I say, "YES! And woudl you like a BJ with that?"

Well, maybe not that slutty, but pretty close.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I hope it works-- and even if it almost works-- good enough mostly but can't take the wear and tear of constant traffic, it could be laid down in the middle of lanes.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

There are so many of these. I hope some of them make it.

For an overview of US renewable energy research (since I was just reminded that a lot of people don't know about this place), National Renewable Energy Lab (http://www.nrel.gov/).

For lots of ways to save energy at home, it's hard to beat the DoE's Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy's page at energysavers.gov (http://www.energysavers.gov/)

[sinspired.livejournal.com]

Here's what I'm worried about. They've glossed over a major issue. With asphalt we have a major issue with wear and tear on the roadway. We're not talking about road surface withstanding a single 80,000 18-wheeler - we're talking about it withstanding hundreds per hour on many highways. If you've traveled I-80 through Pennsylvania, you may have seen sections of roadway where they test roadway paints - and how quickly it wears away. Currently, we need to replace road surface every couple of years due to usage and temperature gradient that causes cracking. They really haven't managed to effectively control this issue with cost control in over seventy years of heavy use. Adding electronics takes a very simple system that has problems already, makes replacement more expensive, then adds unrelated problems to solve and complicates it without resolving the original problems. I suspect that this new design will be best used as special panels at intersections, bridge surfacing, walkway paving, arena flooring, perhaps even streets of a small town - but not on the highway.
So, in other words, I want to see some of the other ideas before I vote.

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

I know some streets *called* highways elsewhere have margins about 4" wide, and nowhere else to go besides a ditch, but some places have huge margins that aren't in regular use.
Sure, there's wear issues for major use areas--some stretches of highway around the Bay Area, near SF etc. are right out--but hey, there's all those miles of thinly-used margin, totally car-width wide, running in eastern desert CA, NV, OR, NM, etc. Highway 395 or the road from LA to Las Vegas or east of El Centro all come to mind.
Those (same as solar panels in the desert itself) could generate tons of solar energy. Problem is the *transmission* of it.

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

I'm sure the oil cartels which have this country by the balls won't be a factor at all.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

The biggest issue is not strength. The biggest issue with this is the fact that rubber slides on glass with just the tiniest bit of humidity. So the glass will need to have ridges cut into it for water to run off and for the tires to grip. Still, a neat idea, though I wonder where he's going to find those 15% efficient solar cells.

And geeks like me are salivating over the mischief we can cause via wirelessly sending new commands to the roadway. I think "Danger: Zombies!" will be my first rewrite :)

[hughchardon.livejournal.com]

with the tech they have come up with wouldn't it be easier to just create a network of slot car type roads? they would be like the street cars of old and just suck the power directly off the road as needed.