Highway 205 centerline in the Oregon high desert
Oregon is reportedly among the states that are looking at the spaces along their roads for renewable energy production.
A recent report in the New York Times‘ Green Inc. blog says that Oregon is doing a demonstration project involving a 104-kilowatt solar array that provides power for about one-third of the lights used at an interchange between two interstates.
The article adds that Massachusetts is working on its own plan for a large wind turbine on land near a turnpike rest area. Other states are looking at using abandoned industrial sites for clean energy generation.
Another detail in the effort to build more renewable energy on U.S. roadsides is reportedly the Green Roadway project, conceived by two inventors who working to develop what is called an “alternative energy roadway system” that could involve highways across the U.S.
With increasingly large and ambitious renewable energy projects being considered nationwide, one benefit for businesses and homeowners is likely to be falling prices for solar power, such as photovoltaic panels, and other clean energy technologies.