What is Digg?63 Comments
- grumpyrain, on 08/23/2008, -2/+31This would never work. There would need to be a complex grid of asphalt-like paths spread over a geographically large area. Imagine how much land that is going to waste.
/sarcasm - Rainemaker, on 08/23/2008, -0/+21Proof of concept:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djGXY16Pk5s
(not for the weak of stomach)
((you've been warned)) - shawngreg, on 08/23/2008, -1/+11Brilliant. Dugg.
- allaboutdatiki, on 08/23/2008, -1/+10Hot diggity ... lets repave the driveway!
- K1I2M3, on 08/22/2008, -6/+14Yes, finally! If they can make this work, it will be an excellent resources!
- meghalc, on 08/23/2008, -0/+8"dude, the skins coming off my foot!"
lmao stupid idiot... - MorphicMusic, on 08/22/2008, -3/+10Solar panels as better roads than asphalt, for segues.
- mikephimikephi, on 08/23/2008, -0/+6Asphalt is a byproduct of refining crude oil
- mpobri, on 08/23/2008, -0/+6These researches should learn Dutch.
http://digg.com/environment/Solar_Collecting_Roads ... - Voide, on 08/23/2008, -3/+9Do you honestly have to be a pompous ***** about it? Just because your life sucks, don't try and bring down somebody else.
Who cares if its the internet, show some ***** respect. - jaxcs, on 08/23/2008, -0/+5What new technology, ever, in all of history, came out of the door cheaper or easier to work with than the previous technology? I'm sure when iron was first discovered, workers complained about the difficulty of working with the metal and complained about it's scarcity. What is most important is sustainability and how much it will take us in a direction we actually want to go. The deep value of oil to our society means that finding an alternative is desperately needed. People who cry out the relatively lower cost of oil over alternatives never take into account the subsidies offered to oil companies, the cost in soldiers lives, or the tremendous strain of maintaining relations with nations who despise us. Our need oil keeps us in bed with despots and tyrants that under other circumstance we would abandon in seconds
- cjh24, on 08/23/2008, -1/+6WOW!
Using the roads to power the wheels that roll upon them is an awesome prospect. :) - SauceSpot, on 08/23/2008, -0/+5we get free hot water in the summer in arizona
- MegaHyster, on 08/23/2008, -0/+5But they specify asphalt, which in creation and application is totally different from concrete. Besides, most major roads are replaced on a regular basis, so conceivably in a ten year span most major roads could have this technology. However, applying it could prove rather difficult. It's a shame they didn't go into more detail about the project.
- Regulator980, on 08/23/2008, -0/+4"Here you go Scott, it's all yours. You deserve that!" *throws him a $20 bill*
Yeah, that'll just about cover the hospital bill and medication. - bjornski, on 08/23/2008, -0/+4Actually, the snow reflects light wonderfully. It could be used as a "collector" for visible spectrum solar.
And where did I say it would be a good idea or suggest it would be here?
I think I was making your point before you decided to be an ***** about tit.
And oh yeah, it gets hot and sunny here in the summer too. It COULD be useful half the year, as long as it could be maintained properly, *****.
Der der der.... - bjornski, on 08/23/2008, -0/+4You will never, EVER see that tech.
- bjornski, on 08/23/2008, -0/+4Actually, here in Minnesota, land of 5 months of winter and 7 months of road construction, this would be a disaster.
Our roads take so much abuse from frost-heaves and snowplows that no matter how well built, the road would have to be "repaired" all the time, risking damage to the system every time a jackhammer is brought down.
Good idea in some places, not as good in others. - MrTito, on 08/23/2008, -2/+5If this is something they can make work, there's gonna be a ***** of blank-faced energy experts collectively going "D'Oh!"
- TheMachine1, on 08/23/2008, -0/+3Thats a very clever idea. The city water service could provide hot water service by using the roadway as the heat collector.
- throop77, on 08/23/2008, -0/+3Should you include the cost to the environment in that analysis. Like, if you blow of the top of a mountain to get the coal, how do you price that?
- Synova, on 08/24/2008, -0/+3@poet
Perhaps you should use YOUR brain. Despite what you may think, the sun does not get colder in the winter or produce less energy. - Chicken, on 08/23/2008, -0/+2Did you read the ***** article? they stated the roads "baking in the sun" which means its not just from tire friction. RTFA next time.
- rbk303, on 08/23/2008, -0/+2Well, how about that.
- iFrikkenR, on 08/24/2008, -0/+2I actually had thought of this too myself a while back except extracting the heat from just my driveway using water pipes. It'd be kind of like a less efficient rooftop solar water heater that are common around these parts. Anyone walking down an asphalt sidewalk on a hot summers day knows exactly how much heat is there
Nice to see people spotting the huge energy potential just lying around dormant and actually doing something about it - duggynyc, on 08/23/2008, -0/+2Nice. But what happens during the winter?
- magyan, on 08/23/2008, -0/+2Well, energy captured by system in summer could be used for heating them in winter time, so there would be no need for cleaning, snow just turn to water. Just an idea.
- cornerback42, on 08/23/2008, -0/+2Seems to me living up north (specifically Ohio, right by Lake Erie) how this could work. Maybe in the south where sunshines daily or more frequently than here.
Have you driven the roads up here? Bumpy as all hell no way in hell these cities/municipalities could afford this. They can barely keep the roads from going to ***** now let alone maintaining and installing them now.
No way this happens ever up north, cost and time are way to great for this to ever be worth it. - goon5000, on 08/23/2008, -0/+2just imagine how many make-work jobs this would create, I'm not surprised at all that this is coming out of Taxachusetts
- DrJG, on 08/25/2008, -0/+1That is because your country does not have good rail system, try travelling around in Germany, or even India.
- polumrak, on 08/25/2008, -0/+1When I was but a wee lad and Soviet Union was still there, every Soviet dacha (that is, country house) was a sustainable paradise.
Water was heated by sun, every chunk of garbage that was compostable was composted, space under apple trees was used for strawberries or bushes, people were reusing everything (plastic bottles make great tiny portable greenhouses, milk boxes, bottle caps, papers and bits of metal — everything was reused). Single household produced less garbage in a year than it does now in a week, and used way less water and power. Not that anyone had any choice.
Not today, thought. It's considered "cheap" to use bags from supermarket for garbage, even. - MegaHyster, on 08/26/2008, -0/+1I don't think it will be the unions that will be an issue. It's who's writing the check that will. The cost increase up front will be a hard pill to swallow for states, counties, and cities making it less likely that this will move forward.
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http://unik.blogetery.com/ - ThE0eNiGmA, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1The problem with the idea of rail cars is...oh, i don't know, going anywhere? You can only travel on rails, have limited or no maneuverability, and it would be extremely cost-prohibitive to put rails down EVERYWHERE. Yes, trains are more efficient...but don't take you everywhere.
- DrJG, on 08/25/2008, -0/+1Sounds like a good idea, and there is no reason to think of it as total alternative even to solar panels - which need not be on huge farms, they can be on every building - if all possibilities are used together they will add up.
- seven07, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1it will only work if they find a way to make duarable pre-fab roads surfaces that outlast asphalt or else we're better off with solar panels as roads.
- stringerbell, on 08/27/2008, -0/+1None of you geniuses bothered to point out that asphalt USES MORE OIL than concrete. Far more...
- Voide, on 08/23/2008, -1/+2It wasn't an insult...it was an observation. Somebody acting like such a self righteous jackass to another, on the internet, because something was "ridiculously obvious" must have a ***** life.
And frankly, I have no reason to show your respect right now...you lost me at "captain obvious." - Chicken, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1So you'd rather have concrete (even though hes talking about the wrong material) give us nothing back then whatever the article would say? You're ***** retarded.
- afruff23, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1@jaxcs
"People who cry out the relatively lower cost of oil over alternatives never take into account the subsidies offered to oil companies, the cost in soldiers lives, or the tremendous strain of maintaining relations with nations who despise us."
That's why I said to consider the costs of both oil and alternative energies. - jasongbc, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1Roads are torn up all the time... Every few years new asphalt is laid down... running some pipes through it is no problem. Asphalt aborbs a LOT of heat and releases it slowly.
- goon5000, on 08/23/2008, -0/+0what the hell, you can BUY solar panels if you REALLY wanted them, you can BUY a windmill if you REALLY want it, how much do you want it?
- mebrad, on 08/23/2008, -3/+3You're an immature piece of *****! Don't drink and post!
- djm19, on 08/24/2008, -0/+0Los Angeles has a 60+ year backlog of steet repairs, I dont think we can do the upkeep this will undoubtedly require.
- goon5000, on 08/23/2008, -1/+1the unions won't let it happen, they might actually have to learn a new skill for the first time in their lives, they won't put up with that.
- jasongbc, on 08/23/2008, -0/+0Use the other side of the heat exchanger?
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