Compliments of Freefoto.com

Imagine a world where there were no power lines.  Therefore, we never had power outages or downed electrical lines.  Where no coal was needed to be burned for energy. No nuclear power plants were needed.  No need to deplete our precious fossil fuels or drill in our oceans. In fact, we may not even receive a power BILL.  How could all that be possible?

Think of the one source that is unlimited, unmatched, more powerful than anything in the Universe. The Sun!  The mega light.  The source of life for all living things.  An incredible 10,000 degrees (Fahrenheit) of heat, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  All we have to do is channel it and we’ll have all the energy we could ever want, all the power we could ever use and it would be free!  The vision depends on advanced solar technology…the implementation and then the ongoing management of a massive infrastructure like no other….but it’s not out of reach.  It’s actually more practical than you might believe.

The technology has arrived.  Take a look at the concept of solar-powered highways.  Replacing all of the asphalt in the U.S. with glass solar panels would generate enough power to provide energy for the entire globe.  The entire globe!  The idea in similar concepts has already broken ground in Oregon, is proposed in Italy, Santa Monica and other places.  Santa Monica’s proposed “serpent solar highway” will include charging stations for electric cars.

Since we constantly replace and repair the asphalt on our road systems, which is not at all practical, why not start thinking about better options?  Asphalt is petroleum-based and it’s prevalence in our society (think 25,000 square miles of roadways in the lower 48 states!) promotes our dependency on oil. Haven’t we fed the pockets of the oil companies and the Middle East long enough?

The other incredibly useful purposes for a solar-powered highway are 1) it can melt ice and snow to make travel safer and 2) it incorporates changeable signage to the roads electronically 3) it can replace stop lights, or at least power them 4) it can detect weight at cross walks to keep pedestrians safer.

Here’s a bonus feature of this particular product:  they use waste materials from the landfill and the ocean, mixed with organic material, to make the internal support structure.  Does it get any better?

Watch this video and you will see what a great option this appears to be.  Yes, cost is an issue…but can we afford to stay on our current path? Absolutely not.  This road pays for itself…and for all the electrical power use in the world… so that’s a pretty big return on our investment, wouldn’t you agree?

We must start to embrace and implement renewable, sustainable ideas like this one.  I applaud the engineers and producers of this concept and plan to support their continued efforts.

http://www.wimp.com/solarhighways