Energy Saver: Glow in the dark road unveiled in the Netherlands

[okaawhatever]

The paint contains a "photo-luminising" powder that charges up in the daytime and slowly releases a green glow at night, doing away with the need for streetlights.

Interactive artist Daan Roosegaarde teamed up with Dutch civil engineering firm Heijmans to work on the idea.

The technology is being tested with an official launch due later this month.

It is the first time "glowing lines" technology has been piloted on the road and can be seen on the N329 in Oss, approximately 100km south east of Amsterdam.

Once the paint has absorbed daylight it can glow for up to eight hours in the dark.

Speaking to the BBC last year about his plans Mr Roosegaarde said: "The government is shutting down streetlights at night to save money, energy is becoming much more important than we could have imagined 50 years ago. This road is about safety and envisaging a more self-sustainable and more interactive world."

Continued at Link with a cool pic of another idea. Really worth considering for the US once tested.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27021291

[Thor_MN]

1. Not sure it would hold up in a Minnesota winter, but would love to lose the light pollution.

Call me odd, but I like it to be dark at night.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. Definite agreement.

Light pollution at night is a major turn-off. The few times I've been out far enough, the night sky has become absolutely incredible with no human lights screwing up the view.

[Silent3]

6. Reduced light pollution was the first thing I thought about when I saw the OP

Now if we can only further decide that not every empty parking lot needs to be lit up all night with enough light to read a book by.

[Thor_MN]

8. I'd be happy with lights that pointed down rather than shining light horizontally and even up.

I have street lights a block away that light up the walls of my bedroom through the blinds. Not to mention an idiot neighbor that has a flood light pointed towards my house that stays lit all night.

[eppur_se_muova]

11. Hmmm ... is that flood in keeping with city orginances ? Worth a look. nt

[nomorenomore08]

12. "Someone" might want to make an anonymous phone call...

[RobertEarl]

2. Streetlights

The big power companies, making electricity with the huge nuke plants, had to keep the plants running 24/7.

What happened was they were making a lot of electricity that was not being used, so it was wasted.

Someone came up with the bright idea that if we had electricity using street lights everywhere, they could turn a dime with the otherwise waste electricity.

The US government, being a mainly socialistic endeavor, rapidly took to lighting up its socialist built roadways. This put money in the pockets of the electricity providers and it helped night owls. Win/win.

Now that our electricity is being increasingly supplied by banked reserves and daylight solar, using all that excess electricity at night will become a thing of the past.

Our socialism demands we do something for the nightowls as streetlights are replaced with glowing roads. A shovel ready project if there ever was one.

[MADem]

4. I am a fan of this sort of thing. I really think this is the way to go, particularly

on dangerous roads that get a good deal of night travel.

I also like this idea:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2320023/Recycled-rubber-soon-used-resurface-nations-busiest-roads.html

Route to peace and quiet... roads made of old tyres: Recycled rubber could soon be used to resurface nation's busiest roads

Recycled car tyres could soon be used to surface roads across the country
A pioneering trial in Dundee found that they made roads quieter
EU rules have banned the disposal of tyres in landfill sites, leaving about 480,000 tonnes of recyclable shredded rubber each year

Kick and rec for a useful thread!

[Junkdrawer]

5. Driving unfamiliar roads with over-worn yellow lines at night....

Eye strain and fatigue. This sounds great.

[pinboy3niner]

7. This reminds me of the Overseas Highway heading down to Key West, Florida

They're not electrically lit, but at night wide bands of very bright reflectors delineate the lanes--and also serve as rumble strips day and night so a sleepy driver beginning to stray from the causeway is immediately jolted awake.

[AtheistCrusader]

9. Last i checked, cars carried their own streetlights around with them.

Just make the paint reflective. Done.

[krispos42]

10. That's not going to help me see road debris or wild animals

I doubt it's better than reflective paint which, when not worn down, works quite well.

I was hoping that maybe they had developed some sort of translucent roadway surface and had put solar panels and LEDs underneath it... by day, the solar panels store sunlight, by night, the LEDS would serve to illuminate the road.

[Cha]

13. Cool! Thanks okaawhatever

OT.. I love the Scandinavian names.. why use one a when you can use two!

[mainer]

14. Mixed feelings here. I want dark places to stay dark.

And I wouldn't like every country road to be lit up like this. Imagine driving into the desert to see the night sky. Those glowing roads would ruin the wonder.

[Orrex]

15. They'd also provide landing strips for UFOs