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The real world problems facing "Solar Roadways"
11 years ago
General
So it seems that an idea that has been around since the 1960s is finally getting some realization in the real world.
http://www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml
Here is where I hit everyone with a dose of reality:
First off this is an absolutely amazing idea! Much like how people that know me have heard me talk about how Southern California could have had an efficient, quiet, high-speed monorail bought and paid for by private interests (think Disney) wayyy back in the 60s and 70s without a single taxpayer dollar being spent to build it and was shot down by greedy and scared railroad and automotive tycoons and companies...
Why did the monorail not happen even though it would not have cost a taxpayer a single cent?
Plain, old, ugly, GREED.
Like the monorail in SoCal (and many other revolutionary ideas) this solar roadway would never happen in America on a large scale. Too many greedy people in the way of progress. See the two page links below:
http://micechat.com/blogs/samland/1.....ghway-sky.html
http://www.monorails.org/tMspages/LA1963.html
But I digress... So at the moment this solar roadway is a wonderful idea, but still in infancy and just not realistic in most of the world's economic situations or usage.
Also they are spewing a lot of sensationalist bullshit and buzzwords to get money, they say it will cut emissions by some magical amount even though they have not done ANY large scale real world testing, while at the same time do not mention the process involved with making each tile, and the resources involved behind it... If there is plastic involved (recycled or new) it needs petroleum and dangerous chemicals, if there is glass involved it needs massive amounts of heat and very specific types of sand from natural sources, if there is metal involved it needs mining and strip mining and chemicals and pollution galore. Solar panels don't grow on trees. There would also be the problem of rubber residue and who knows what else and them needing a more intense cleaning than just running a street sweeper over them to keep them efficient... I have yet to see them run a thousand fully loaded semi-trucks and big-rigs over it every day for a decade. It is a great "idea" one that has been around since the imagineers of the 1960s, but is more or less a "utopian" idea that isn't very realistic in the current financial and political climate in most the world.
I just don't see this happening in America where bridges are falling into the water and potholes are big enough to go swimming in and most of the road maintenance technology has remained unchanged since the 1950s... Especially in a country that only gives government contracts to the lowest bidders and people that make war... Yeah, how efficient and reliable is a solar roadway going to be when it is made by a company in China, with slave labor?
I can see it working with some tweaking, like instead of areas where cars will always be such as the road itself or parking spaces that will be blocked most the day, they put it as the shoulders of the road, or only in the parts of a parking lot where cars will not be sitting for extended periods, or places at airports that do not see airplane or much vehicle traffic.
If the government of America really cared about "The Future" and infrastructure... We would have high-speed monorails with power/communication conduits, hydrogen powered cars, cheap clean diesel, solar roofing tiles on every house, rain collectors, and automatic blowjob machines on every street corner.
I can guarantee you that "the powers that be" *Ahem*: big oil and big power and big automotive companies will make sure this never sees "the light of day" on a mass scale, unless they can find a way to make insane amounts of money off it... Again, at least not in America, outside of private funding... Seriously, $1,000,000 for a single little parking lot?
Since America is mainly a Crony Capitalism it would likely never get D.O.T. (government) approval for use on/as public roads because of all the big money fingers controlling their government puppets.
In all honesty, I think they should be pitching this idea to the United Arab Emerites and the prince of Dubai as that is the only place I can think of that would jump on this idea and has the money and the future planning set up for such ideas.
Again a wonderful and Utopian idea, but just not realistic at the moment... At least not in the greed centered U.S.A.
http://www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml
Here is where I hit everyone with a dose of reality:
First off this is an absolutely amazing idea! Much like how people that know me have heard me talk about how Southern California could have had an efficient, quiet, high-speed monorail bought and paid for by private interests (think Disney) wayyy back in the 60s and 70s without a single taxpayer dollar being spent to build it and was shot down by greedy and scared railroad and automotive tycoons and companies...
Why did the monorail not happen even though it would not have cost a taxpayer a single cent?
Plain, old, ugly, GREED.
Like the monorail in SoCal (and many other revolutionary ideas) this solar roadway would never happen in America on a large scale. Too many greedy people in the way of progress. See the two page links below:
http://micechat.com/blogs/samland/1.....ghway-sky.html
http://www.monorails.org/tMspages/LA1963.html
But I digress... So at the moment this solar roadway is a wonderful idea, but still in infancy and just not realistic in most of the world's economic situations or usage.
Also they are spewing a lot of sensationalist bullshit and buzzwords to get money, they say it will cut emissions by some magical amount even though they have not done ANY large scale real world testing, while at the same time do not mention the process involved with making each tile, and the resources involved behind it... If there is plastic involved (recycled or new) it needs petroleum and dangerous chemicals, if there is glass involved it needs massive amounts of heat and very specific types of sand from natural sources, if there is metal involved it needs mining and strip mining and chemicals and pollution galore. Solar panels don't grow on trees. There would also be the problem of rubber residue and who knows what else and them needing a more intense cleaning than just running a street sweeper over them to keep them efficient... I have yet to see them run a thousand fully loaded semi-trucks and big-rigs over it every day for a decade. It is a great "idea" one that has been around since the imagineers of the 1960s, but is more or less a "utopian" idea that isn't very realistic in the current financial and political climate in most the world.
I just don't see this happening in America where bridges are falling into the water and potholes are big enough to go swimming in and most of the road maintenance technology has remained unchanged since the 1950s... Especially in a country that only gives government contracts to the lowest bidders and people that make war... Yeah, how efficient and reliable is a solar roadway going to be when it is made by a company in China, with slave labor?
I can see it working with some tweaking, like instead of areas where cars will always be such as the road itself or parking spaces that will be blocked most the day, they put it as the shoulders of the road, or only in the parts of a parking lot where cars will not be sitting for extended periods, or places at airports that do not see airplane or much vehicle traffic.
If the government of America really cared about "The Future" and infrastructure... We would have high-speed monorails with power/communication conduits, hydrogen powered cars, cheap clean diesel, solar roofing tiles on every house, rain collectors, and automatic blowjob machines on every street corner.
I can guarantee you that "the powers that be" *Ahem*: big oil and big power and big automotive companies will make sure this never sees "the light of day" on a mass scale, unless they can find a way to make insane amounts of money off it... Again, at least not in America, outside of private funding... Seriously, $1,000,000 for a single little parking lot?
Since America is mainly a Crony Capitalism it would likely never get D.O.T. (government) approval for use on/as public roads because of all the big money fingers controlling their government puppets.
In all honesty, I think they should be pitching this idea to the United Arab Emerites and the prince of Dubai as that is the only place I can think of that would jump on this idea and has the money and the future planning set up for such ideas.
Again a wonderful and Utopian idea, but just not realistic at the moment... At least not in the greed centered U.S.A.
Even if someone could make a profit eventually, our economy and culture is so addicted to short-term results and instant gratification that no one with the requisite funds would make the investment.
Although, I am worried about LEDs out on less-traveled highways. Where there currently may not be much light if cars aren't traveling on it, will those LEDs still be on? Is that light going to affect the animals and their behavior?
Still love the idea.
Though the lights turning on and off could have various problems. There does need to be lots more R&D.
Again a wonderful idea, just still in infancy and facing the long solar road of evil corporations keeping it down in a Crony Capitalistic country...