Hall, E. (2018, August 02). How The Ray is building a greener highway. Retrieved November 18, 2018, from https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/the-ray-green-highway-georgia-environment-solar/
The Ray “a non-profit foundation” is looking for ways to build “efficient infrastructure and sustainable highways”. They have developed “WheelRight drive-through tire safety system” to read tires and then give data in terms of that car’s tread depth. The Ray isn’t only focused on a system for looking at your tires, but they have also created solar roads. This road is able to power a visitor system which will have electric vehicle chargers,
This is related to environmental science because “there are just over 220,000 miles of national highways throughout America, and every single one of them contributes to our global warming problem”. If we find a way to make highways more environmentally friendly then global warming could be helped in the process. One concern that the article brings up is the cost. The Ray is in the process of creating these systems and infrastructures. They are only testing and building on smaller planes so they aren’t sure how much it would cost to install on miles and miles of highways and also more than one highway. If they can only install on a couple highways, is that worth it and will it make a difference?
This was amazing to read about. One summer I worked with some grad students that had this same mission in mind, capturing energy from vibrations created by trains and subways to power buildings. I wonder, how does a solar road work? Is it meant to capture sunlight and convert that to energy? How is that possible in cars will drive over it daily?