What if we started seriously tapping into the natural, clean and unending resource that is solar energy? What if our entire electricity grid did not only span from east to west, but was also powered by the sun? A grid that then powers electric cars, powers homes, powers industry.
What's more? What if we could make that grid so smart that it alerts drivers about dangers up ahead, it eliminates black ice, and it saves money.
The idea of a Smart Highway is the idea that the areas around our roads, as well as the roads themselves, can be populated, over time, with solar cells and panels that tap into the sun's energy.
The idea may seem far-fetched, but prototypes are already being developed in the United States.
How would it work? Well, the short answer would have you visit the site of a major advocate of the concept, here: http://www.solarroadways.com/Introduction.htm
The slightly longer answer is that you'd have 3 layers – the first with data lines (internet, phone and such) as well as the nuts and bolts of a power grid, the second with the actual solar cells and caps for collecting and storing solar power, and the third made of a translucent, high strength material that need not be based on petrochemicals.
The genius of the solar highway is multiple, including the combination of data corridors with power generation; the possibility of localized power generation which eliminates grid-wide failures that lead to blackouts; the ready availability of road-side power for electric vehicles; the ability to undertake both grid maintenance and road maintenance simultaneously; the departure from roads made from petrochemical products which lead to impurities in ground water; the ability to utilize smart roads that can sense and warn about dangers such as wildlife ahead, and in a place like Canada, can heat themselves ever so slightly so as to remove black ice and deliver safer driving conditions.
What's more? The numbers, crunched for the United States, are staggering. Even if minimally efficient solar technologies are utilized, replacing asphalt highways with smart, solar highways could produce over three times the amount of power used in that country, leaving a massive surplus for sale!
The actual roll-out, if adopted, may take decades, and would ideally happen as current roads are maintained or new ones are built, but in the race towards green technology primacy, Canadians cannot afford to be spectators. Thus, the time to research and test the Smart Highway concept is now.
Imagine Smart Highways starting out in Green Hubs. Now, that would be policy synergy!
Your comments, and ideas on this idea, are welcome. The Smart Highway is a policy position of iCitizen, and in the name of all authors and subscribers, a position that will be advocated before Canadian governments – federal and provincial. So, join us, the time for change is now, and you are that change. Your time, is now.