Solar Roadways: Science Fiction Becoming Reality

Solar roads are entering a new test phase that will see them installed along a portion of the iconic route 66. Solar Roadways is the brainchild of Scott and Julie Brusaw of Idaho.  It all started ten years ago when Scott, an electrical engineer and his wife Julie began to imagine how solar panels could be embedded into the road. The concept eventually incorporated LEDs that could illuminate highways, and replace road lines. These solar panels can also be heated enabling them to melt snow and ice. The panels used in olar roadways are made out of recycled glass and in addition to collecting renewable energy, the panels can even redistribute storm water.

A Response to Critics of the Solar Roadways Concept

While there is an abundance of positive response to the Solar Roadways concept, there has also been an avalanche of negativity that completely misses the point. As reviewed in a recent Global Warming is Real article, the concept of embedding solar panels into American roadways represents a powerful new approach to green innovation and finance.

Without paying heed to the benefits, many critics are focused on what they perceive as the project’s technological imperfections. Among their comments, they suggest the surface of a roadway with embedded solar panels would not be able to handle the stresses placed upon it, or that vehicular traffic and debris would seriously inhibit the ability of such roads to harvest the sun’s energy. Other criticisms state that the concept is hardly new and therefore somehow less worthy of interest. Some lament that we should be using roofs rather than roads to collect solar power.

Still others rue the cost. The creators of the Solar Roadway project have estimated the cost of embedding solar panels on American highways to be under $5 billion, while others claim it will cost trillions of dollars.

Solar Roadways’ Innovative Sun Powered Technology and Finance

Solar Roadways is a grassroots company that is a stellar example of a powerful new approach to business. Their business model is a perfect marriage between innovative technology and innovative finance. Solar Roadways are spearheading a new reality that levels the playing field and gives us reason to believe that we will find a way to meet our energy needs without fossil fuels.

Solar power was discovered over 170 years ago, but it was only in the 1950s that it became a viable, albeit expensive, technology. However, the high cost of producing solar cells meant that the concept remained in limited use up until recently. The explosion of interest in solar power has brought investment and research that has vastly improved the technology.

Video - Solar Roadways: Crowdfunding

This is the story of the creators of the solar roadway. They provide a long list of issues that can be resolved with solar roadways. They present their prototype and review their grassroots operation. They also make their pitch for a novel crowd-funding program that has already surpassed their goal of $1 million by raising more than $1.5 million.

Video - Solar Roadways: The Concept Explained

Solar Roadways is a revolutionary concept that embeds smart solar panels (made largely out of recycled materials) into roads. This concept will not only generate power, it will light roads and melt any snow and ice. Through embedded LEDs it can provide safer travel by providing warnings to drivers as necessary. It will also bury conduits for all forms of data cables and clean storm water. Most importantly, for a modest investment of under $5 billion, it will provide jobs and substantially reduce our footprint from burning fossil fuels.

Green Innovation and the Economic Importance of Fossil Fuels in Canada

Fossil fuels are the cornerstone of the Canadian economy and many companies are developing technological processes to help minimize their environmental impacts. Fossil fuels and the tar sands in particular are powerful economic drivers of the Canadian economy. The tar sands generate $91 billion for the Canadian economy. Oil and refined petroleum products are responsible for 25 percent of Canadian exports. The oil sands have seen substantial growth in the last couple of decades and they have provided a corresponding number of jobs. As reported in the Financial Post, a February 2014, IHS CERA study, showed that in 2012, oil sands generated almost a half a million jobs in Canada (478,000) Canadian jobs or 3 percent of all jobs in the country and

We are seeing "green" innovation in the Canadian fossil fuel industry including investments in carbon capture and storage. This type of innovation could reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20 percent or more, tailings could be reduced by 80 percent and river water could be diminished by 25 percent.

Examples of Renewable Energy Innovations in 2013

Renewable energy is one of the fastest growing and most interesting areas of innovation. The number of patents issued for renewable-energy technologies has risen sharply over the last decade. The number and size of investments in research and development, as well as in the growth of markets for these products is driving innovation. Here are some examples of renewable energy innovation from 2013.

Pyroelectricity

A new type of electronic circuit was developed in 2013 that may help to improve the performance of solar panels. Typically cooler, slower, mellower electrons don't have enough energy to produce a usable electric current. Ultrasolar has developed an electronic circuit (ideally built into an inverter) that passes a very high frequency signal backwards through the DC wires into the solar module and cells. The slower electrons catch these waves and are turned into hot and fast electrons for long enough to escape the crystal matrix and generate a useful current. This could lead to inverter efficiencies of over 100 percent.

Event - INNOVA-CON 2014 Conference

INNOVA-CON 2014 will take place on January 14-15, 2014 in Brooklyn, New York. The first conference by the International Association of Innovation Professionals (IAOIP) featuring world-class innovation experts. The INNOVA-CON is a great opportunity to meet in person and connect with luminaries in the innovation profession. Content will focus on how to use strategies and methods of innovation to create value.

IAOIP is a professional membership organization that is the world's only independent innovation certification body, providing members with the knowledge, skills and opportunities to deliver real change in their industry or field.

Event - Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Celebration

This event will take place on Friday, November 15, 2013 at
IAC HQ, 555 West 18th Street, NYC. Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Celebration in New York City will honor C2C leaders and present the winners of the Cradle to Cradle Product Innovation Challenge, sponsored by the Schmidt Family Foundation and the Dutch Postcode Lottery, with a shared cash prize of $250,000.
Aveda, Method, PUMA, Shaw, Steelcase among Innovators to be Honored.

Across the globe more than 200 companies are transforming product design and leading a new, green industrial revolution. Come see their product innovations first hand.

Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (C2C) is celebrating manufacturers of everything from clothing and furniture to carpets and cleaning products who have committed to “remake the way they make things” - transforming product design and leading a new industrial revolution. Following the lead of the green building industry, manufacturers from fashion, beauty, home and lifestyle brands are striving to make every product that touches our lives adhere to the highest standards of environmental and human safety.

Innovation is Key for Sustainability: Best Companies are Getting Better According to Tomorrow’s Value Rating 2013

Sustainability strategy company Two Tomorrows', tenth Tomorrow’s Value Rating 2013 (TVR), shows that the best companies are getting better. The rankings recognize companies that increasingly demonstrate “clarity of vision and innovation in their pursuit of a sustainable business model,” that is likely to likely to drive sustainable value in the future. This rating assesses the performance of the 50 companies in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI).

In order of their performance here are the top ten.

Event - Nexus Conference: Innovative and Sustainable Solutions

The Nexus Conference, will take place March 4-7, 2014, in Chapel Hill, NC, USA. This event will bring together leaders in business, government, NGOs and research to discuss innovative and sustainable solutions that address the intersection of the world’s water, food, and energy needs and uses in a changing climate. The Nexus approach requires systemic thinking and a quest for integrated solutions to guide our decision-making about resource use and development and move to a more sustainable planet.

Event - VERGE (San Francisco) Where Tech Meets Sustainability

VERGE San Francisco will take place from October 14, 2013 to October 17, 2013 at the Palace Hotel.

This event brings together innovators, entrepreneurs, and leading public officials to explore the opportunities for radical efficiencies created through technology advancements in energy, buildings and transportation.

Event - Inspiration 2013

Inspiration 2013 will take place on the 31st of October at the Royal Geographic Society, London, UK. Inspiration is about what we've deemed the life cycle of ideas, from having an idea, testing it, shaping it and delivering it as a successful commercial venture. The event is premised on the notion that ideas and innovation can make the difference between success and failure in uncertain times.

Event - Innovations in Technical Education to Advance Sustainability: Student Leadership

Innovations in Technical Education to Advance Sustainability: Student Leadership will take place on June 6-8, 2013 at Alfred State SUNY College of Technology, NY. The conference, with its unique focus on technical education, is an excellent opportunity to connect and build working relationships with a diverse range of education and sustainability professionals. This year's conference will feature keynote presentations from Leith Sharp, a campus sustainability pioneer who was the founding director of Harvard’s Office for Sustainability and who served as Executive Director of the Illinois Green Economy Network, and Roger Ebbage,Executive Director of the Association of Community College Energy and Water Educators and Energy Management Program Coordinator at Lane Community College.

Increasing Sustainable Innovation Demands Change

There are tremendous opportunities to develop new innovations that help to manage the environmental and social challenges we face. We need to learn from those who are using sustainability to drive new business value.  We also need to generate new ideas and build productive partnerships.

Although not everyone is currently on-board when it comes to sustainable innovation, it should be clear to thinking people that all of the brand leaders of the future will be sustainable. The combination of resource scarcity, increasing fuel costs, extreme weather related supply chain disruptions, and rising consumer awareness are among the many factors that make innovation in sustainability one of the most valuable endeavors of the modern age.

Video - Is the Carbon Nanotube the Future of Cheap Emissions Free Energy?

What if the answers to some of biggest problems can be solved with some of the smallest units of measurement. One person seems to think so and he has assembled a team of 180 researchers who, among other things, are exploring ways of generating energy cheaply and without emissions.