Emissions-Eating Roads

12 July 2010 - 8:00am

A new report says that roads embedded with titanium dioxide can help purify the air by absorbing 25 to 45 percent of nitrogen oxides emitted by cars.

The report comes from the Eindhoven University of Technology. Here's a brief description from the report on how the science works:

"Vehicle exhaust gases contain nitrogen oxides (NOx), which cause acid rain and smog. The air purifying concrete contains titanium dioxide, a photocatalytic material that removes the nitrogen oxides from the air and converts them with the aid of sunlight into harmless nitrate. The nitrate is then rinsed away by rain. These stones also have another advantage: they break down algae and dirt, so that they always stay clean. "

Source: AutoBlogGreen, July 9, 2010
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"This ends up being, to be sure, a second best alternative, but it's better than the third best alternative, which is to do nothing." -- Jerold Kayden