This idea is based on the "Solar Roads" idea, with some adjusments. Roads, especially in desert reigons, being black as they are, pick up a lot of heat energy, and may even go up to and even over 80 degrees celcius (not tested). Using some kind of mechanism (something like thermalitic exchanger, which i have no idea what it really is, but seems to fit this job) to pick up that heat will produce a great deal of energy. For example - placing long closed channels of water alongside a road ,we can create hot steam (from the water that will absorb the heat). A way of cenverting the heat straight to electricity will be more efficient, but i dont really know a way to do that (except maybe that thermalitic exchanger).

The main difference between my idea and the solar roads is the cost. Maybe it will fit more as an annotation for Solar Roads.
-- Icarus, Jul 11 2001

I thought solar roads were suposed to be photovoltaic?
-- RobertKidney, Jul 13 2001


I think this has more practicalities in the area of geothermical studies.
-- [ sctld ], Jul 14 2001


All of this screwing around with indirectly converting waste heat back into useful energy... Mother nature uses light directly to produce food in plants. I think we need to develop a fuel cell that runs on glucose, then we can just adapt chlorophyll-bearing plants into electrical generators...
-- hyc, Jun 15 2002


Understandable idea, but would not be cost-efficient.
-- joarvat, Jun 18 2002


I think it's good, run pipes through the roads, super heat pressurized ammonia. Then run it through turbines, the expansion cools the ammonia and energy is produced for your generator.
-- brewer, Nov 16 2003


We can adapt chlorophyll-bearing plants into electrical generators. By burning them.
-- bungston, Nov 16 2003



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