Green the Ungreen Byways



Some may think that designing around our naturally destructive inclinations is submissive. I prefer to think of it as optimistic pragmatism: where stop drop and reverse tactics may fail, we could use a buffer zone into better environmental practices. The very least we can do is ease, baby - ease. Herewith the idea: Design highways as green energy generators.

The proposal would involve mounting horizontal wind turbines above the roadway that would be driven by the moving air generated by the passing traffic. The electricity generated by spinning these turbines could be fed back into the grid. Joe's analysis indicates that based on vehicle speeds of 70 mph each turbine could produce 9,600 kWh per year.

Enough tomfoolery. The source!