Power Roads: Soon our roads, bridges will be paying back the energy used to build them.
Soon our roads and bridges will be
paying back the energy used to build them. Power Roads are on their way!
We've
all heard about 'power houses' -- buildings that in the course of their
lifetimes generate more energy than they consume. Now is the time to launch
'power roads'. The idea is that over the course of their lifetimes all
constructions, including roads and bridges, should generate more energy than
they consume.
First
of all, the energy used during their construction must be reduced. Then the
finished roads and bridges themselves can generate energy. Solar panels can be
installed on bridges, wind turbines can be integrated into the constructions,
and we can extract energy from the currents and waves in the water below the
bridges. All with the aim of making net consumption zero. Utopia? "No --
we're well on our way," says Berit Laanke at SINTEF Building and
Infrastructure.
New
project
The
Norwegian Public Roads Agency (Statens Vegvesen) has been interested in energy
use within the social sector for many years. The great project of the future is
construction of the 'ferry-free' E39 motorway in western Norway. This will
undoubtedly require a new approach, including roads that generate more energy
than they consume in construction.
"We've
wanted to incorporate ideas like this as part of a research project, and have
accumulated a good deal of experience as a result of our being a partner in the
Zero Emission Buildings research centre that focuses on
environmentally-friendly energy," says Laanke. "And we're also in
close contact with the Powerhouse Alliance responsible for the so-called
'Plusshuset' at Kjørbo in Sandvika," she says.
Partners
from NTNU and SINTEF have now set up a new project called 'Power Road', and are
working to stimulate interest and obtain funding. According to Laanke, a lot is
happening in this field around the world. So the first step is to make sure
that project participants are fully aware of the big picture. Norway is in a
unique position because of the frequency of snow and freezing weather. For this
reason, foreign approaches may not be so easy to integrate here. "In the
short term SINTEF is looking to launch a small number of specific
projects," says Laanke. "This autumn we're focusing on energy
generation linked to bridges, involving systems integrated into safety barriers
and noise screens. We're also looking into how materials production can be made
more energy efficient by using locally-sourced stone, and are working together
with Statens Vegvesen on a project proposal involving the electrification of
heavy-duty transport vehicles, incorporating a kind of 'rubber track',
equivalent to a tram running on rubber wheels.
Locally-sourced
stone
Rock
and stone must be extracted as part of all road construction projects, and a
plan for its re-use must be in place. But there are many examples of where such
planning has been inadequate. Instead of re-use, stone removed from tunnels has
been moved to disposal sites, while new stone has been quarried and transported
over distances of several tens of kilometres. The SINTEF researchers are trying
to work out how we can be smarter at re-using extracted stone in asphalt,
concrete or road building applications.
"Our
current system takes no account of the contractor's role in this
conundrum," says Laanke. "At the moment they simply get paid for
transporting rocks -- not for looking into local and sustainable
solutions," she says. For this reason, we need ideas from developers such
as the Norwegian Rail Services Agency (Jernbaneverket) and Statens Vegvesen.
Developers should also be looking into how strict the requirements should be
when it comes to rock materials earmarked for other uses. Perhaps the best
solution would be to loosen up the requirements if re-use applications enable
us to do so," says Laanke.
When
a bridge generates energy
By
Norwegian standards, a new 'ferry-free' E39 will involve a massive investment
in bridge-building. In this case it will be possible to integrate solar panels
and wind turbines into the constructions, and extract energy from the currents
and waves in the water below.
The
report from the project 'A ferry-free E39' has demonstrated the need for more
technological advances as a basis for robust solutions for this type of
integrated energy generation project. It will also be important to have a
debate about the role that local and renewable energy generation will play in
the overall energy market.
However,
the majority of Norwegian transport infrastructure constructions are located in
forested and mountainous areas and do not involve fjord crossings, so the
researchers cannot refer to examples of energy generated from Norwegian bridges.
For
this reason, SINTEF researchers envisage that, in the future, new
electricity-generating materials will be developed and integrated into the
asphalt, and that other ideas will emerge on the issue of energy generation
from roads.
"Electric
cars are already able to recharge themselves as they go downhill," says
Laanke. "Will it be possible to harvest some of this energy if the car
battery is fully charged? Cars exert a pressure on the surface they roll along,
so perhaps we can capture this energy for re-use? The same principle has been
applied on football pitches. As the players run around, lights are activated to
illuminate the pitch," she says.
Smart
choices at every stage
The
Power Road project must focus on renewable energy generation combined with
lower energy consumption. The latter can be achieved by painstaking road
designs using locally-sourced building materials and smart operational systems.
"If
we look at the entire lifecycle of a bridge," says Laanke, "we can
develop a design that involves both a reduction in materials consumption and
energy-efficient maintenance. We can select energy-efficient and
locally-sourced materials, and think in terms of re-use once the lifetime of
the bridge has expired. Perhaps the materials can be re-used for concrete or
other road construction applications.
Bridges
are built with a lifetime of 100 years in mind. In this context, even the
smallest contribution may make a crucial overall impact," she says.
Road
transport with climate change in mind
In
the long term, the research group behind the Power Road project will want to
establish a collaborative forum. According to Berit Laanke, a number of
organisations have already shown some interest. "We envisage the
development of a world-leading research and innovation cluster based in Norway,
involving expertise from competent private sector organisations and research
centres. Today, close to forty Ph.D. students at NTNU are involved in the
'ferry-free' E39 project alone," she says.
She
sees the project addressing locally-sourced stone as being linked to several of
these doctorate studies. And the Power Road innovation project will be applying
to the Research Council of Norway for funds. "We hope to be launching the
first projects in the spring of 2016," she says. "With the dedicated
commitment of public sector organisations such as Statens Vegvesen, I'm
convinced that the Power Road project will succeed," says Laanke.
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