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Roofing Highways with Solar Panels
Context:
The study led by a remote sensing scientist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposes that solar roofs over highways could generate substantial electricity and protect vehicles from adverse weather.
More on News:
- New research suggests that it could significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions and road accidents effectively transforming road networks into expansive solar arrays.
- It could reduce the world’s carbon emissions by approximately 28% by decreasing reliance on fossil fuels.
Key Highlights:
- Electricity Generation: Solar roofs could produce 17.58 petawatt hours (PWh) of electricity annually, which is over 60% of the world’s total electricity consumption in 2023. This would require the installation of approximately 52.3 billion solar panels globally.
- Energy Output Comparison: The energy generated would be up to 17,578 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year, more than four times the annual energy output of the United States.Additionally, solar roofs on major arterial roads could generate 13,570 TWh per year.
- Carbon Dioxide Reduction: The global deployment could offset the equivalent of 9.66 gigatons of fossil fuel-generated carbon dioxide per year, which is about two-thirds of the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2022.
- Road Safety Improvement: By shielding vehicles from inclement weather such as rain and snow, these could reduce global traffic fatalities by an estimated 10.8%.This reduction in accidents would not only save lives but also decrease the economic costs associated with traffic incidents.
Economic and Environmental Benefits:
- It utilises existing infrastructure, converting land already developed for roads into energy-producing assets. This approach could decrease the demand for greenhouse gas-producing energy and help mitigate climate change.
- The initial setup costs for solar roof installations could be up to four times higher than ground-based solar arrays, the long-term benefits of reduced emissions and improved road safety could offset these expenses.
Implementation Challenges:
- Maintenance: Cleaning and maintaining billions of solar panels presents a significant logistical challenge.
- Geographic Variation: The cost per megawatt-hour and energy generation potential will vary by region.
- Higher installations are expected in densely populated areas such as eastern China, western Europe, and the U.S. East Coast.
Current State and Future Prospects:
- There are existing pilot programs for highway solar panels, but these initiatives are still small-scale compared to the global vision proposed.
- Long stretches of highway in regions like the southwestern United States, where solar panel installation could be more feasible. This is the best evidence to make someone believe that this idea is practical.
