#solarroadways

It’s pretty obvious we don’t live in a perfect world.  In fact, our world is anything but perfect.  So it’s a little hard to imagine a world without problems.  However, I present a solution to some of these problems.  A solution to change the economical and environmental problems for the better.  I present, the society of the future.  *present sweeping gesture to sketch*

Think about it, an infrastructure plan for developed countries.  This plan uses technology already available to us.  If successful, it could provide a helpful guide to developing countries, who are looking to correct the problems that this plan addresses.  Imagine, a self sustained country.  By using our own energy produced by solar roadways, we wouldn’t have to pay for imports of fossil fuels to burn for energy.  By composting and creating community gardens, we won’t have to rely on certain agricultural regions.  By recycling and reducing waste in our landfills, we can decrease our environmental impact.

Let’s start from the beginning.  We can replace the current roadways, sidewalks, parking lots, etc. with Solar roadways.  These hexagonal panels are made of recycled material & generate electricity by way of the sun.  They use heat to melt ice and snow, which would get rid of the need for salt and save taxpayer dollars (not to mention, it won’t allow salt to corrode the metal of your car).  They use LED lights for markers, instead of paint.  These LEDs are pressure sensitive and light up when weight is put on them.  These lights can be changed to whatever the computer tells it to be.  Also, this huge infrastructure change will create a gigantic need for new jobs.  We’ll need people to manufacture them; technicians to maintain, repair, and replace them, computer programmers to manage computer coding for the lights, among other jobs that will probably be needed.  And here’s the thing, they don’t last forever, so manufacturing will continue even after all this replacement of asphalt and concrete.

Then we can move onto housing.  We all know the population of the planet is growing.  This growth is bringing a need for more and more housing.  An alternative material for the building industry is shipping containers.  Shipping containers are made to last, they spend months on the open sea, put against the full force of the elements.  They’re made to withstand hurricanes, so they are fairly strong.  All it takes to make a shipping container house is a concrete base, shipping containers, a good welder, insulation, & flooring.  Minimal use of resources and recycling put into one structure, guaranteed to last you a long time.  Plus, they’re relatively cheap.  A typical 40ft shipping container costs approximately $1,000-$2,000.  Depending on how big you want your house, you can build one out of shipping containers for about the same price as buying a brand new home.

Finally we move on to agriculture & waste disposal.  Going back to the growing population topic.  People need to eat, and agriculture provides most of this food.  If we’re taking up land for housing, businesses, & infrastructure, we’re taking away land from agriculture.  I propose, rooftop, community, & inner city Hydroponics for farming.  Hydroponics is dirtless farming.  This type of farming uses artificial sunlight and water to create fresh produce in places that normally can’t grow their own food.  Rooftop gardens are a good way to get fresh produce to people who don’t necessarily have the space for an actual garden.  Now we all know how recycling helps the environment, but we still aren’t recycling all that we can!  I think we should heavily encourage recycling by possibly trying what major cities in China and Japan are doing: recycle a plastic bottle to ride the maglev train.  Even after we institute a recycling policy, we should still shift for recyclables in landfills.  One more thing on waste.  Let’s say the gardens go off without a hitch, a good soil is very beneficial to growing plants.  An easy way to get good, healthy soil is composting.  I feel very strongly about composting.  It keeps organic materials out of landfills and brings it back into the environment.

20. November 2170 - 

Die intelligenten, mikroprozessierenden, hexagonalen Sonnenkollektoren werden bald den Asphalt ersetzen, der anfällig ist für wiederkehrende Probleme und Gefahren wie Schlaglöcher, Risse und starke Hitzeabstrahlung, was oft die Ausbesserung eines ganzen Straßenabschnitts erfordert, wohingegen die Solarpaneels einzeln ausgewechselt werden können, sollten sie beschädigt sein. Sie sind mit recyceltem Glas ummantelt, welches mehrfach getestet wurde, um sämtlichen Traktions-, Temperatur- und Gewichtsansprüche zu erfüllen. 

THIS! Yes! Please! Pleasepleasepleaseplease watch this video. Whether you just want to learn about something cool today or you’re interested in spreading the word about a future altering, life shattering technological advance, watch this video. And if you hear your inner child or inner optimist even WHISPER, “That’s awesome.” Share this video. Then encourage others to do the same.