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Use of Asphalt Paved Surfaces For Solar Heat
vg30e writes "It seems that a company in the Netherlands has found a way to use asphalt paved surfaces as solar heat collectors. Flexible tubes under the surface of the road collect heat from asphalt pavement using water as the working liquid. The heated water is stored underground for later use in defrosting the road, or heating buildings. With all the miles of highway in the continental US, this might be a viable way of collecting massive amounts of thermal energy."
It snows in El Paso in January/February, and in Amarillo more than that. Texas is a hell of a lot bigger than Austin, or whatever small part of it you're familiar with. Even in the winter, the road surface is usually enough warmer than the snow-covered ground to provide some useful energy.
There's another source of heat in addition to the solar input. Passing vehicles emit heat from the exhaust (including the catalytic converters) and there's heat built up from the mechanical stresses, 'specially the "big rigs".
Good point about Chicago. Much of the northern US does that. It's because the dissimilar materials expand and contract at a different rate which creates openings that allow water to enter. Once water enters a crack in winter, you will have damage as it freezes and thaws. This creates a lot more work thus creating jobs to repair the roads. It also damages cars which creates jobs to do repairs and to build new cars. You see the Democrats in those big cities in the northeast fight hard to make sure the dissimilar materials are used. It's also why the Democrats and Unions fight so hard against having good roads in Michigan, Ohio, and several other states.
In the county where I live in upstate NY, the Republicans have had a majority since the early 80's, and we use asphalt for paving and repairs on all of the county roads. In the surrounding counties, the Democrats use a mix. It's interesting how politics affect so many things that you wouldn't think of.