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Taking to the Road? More Power to You

Posted by: franny.ritchie

27 July 2009 - 8:00am

Two inventors explain devices that would allow energy to be harvested along highways and from the highways themselves.

"Last year Oregon launched a “solar highway” demonstration project with a 104 kilowatt ground-mounted solar array situated at the interchange of Interstates 5 and 205. The array powers about a third of the lights on the interchange. Massachusetts recently announced a plan to install a utility-scale wind turbine – big enough to power 400 households – on land adjacent to the Massachusetts Turnpike’s Blandford Rest Area."

"[The inventors] say the solar and wind power generated, given the available incentives, would be cost-competitive with natural gas-fueled power generation.

Whether or not that’s overstated remains to be seen, but the Federal Highway Administration does see promise — in general terms — in roadside renewable energy innovations, and it plans to provide funding for various projects."

Full Story: Harvesting Clean Energy Along the Road
Source: The New York Times, July 23, 2009
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Short of erasing existing political and jurisdictional boundaries, citizens and officials need to develop the capacity to work across boundaries according to the "problem-sheds" of the land and water issues we face in the 21st century.
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