Madrid installing nitrogen-oxide capturing asphalt
Cities get some face lifts during summer months, when traffic is lower and most of its dwellers escape for vacations. Such is the case of Spain's capital city Madrid, which is renewing some of the asphalt on its streets with a bituminous mix called noxer that includes titanium oxide. This substance is claimed to capture the nitrogen oxides (NOx) at diesel pumps and catalyzes and stores the resulting less-polluting oxides until they're washed away by rainwater. It uses solar radiation to work and Madrid city council claims that it can capture up to 90 percent of these oxides on a sunny day. Additionally, the city is installing asphalt which used recycled tires on one of the city's main entries to reduce noise pollution.
[Source: Europa Press]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Steven 6:34PM (8/12/2008)
How about a concrete that absorbs C02?
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MikeW 12:16AM (8/13/2008)
Why?
SPG 11:05PM (8/13/2008)
OK, how about it:
http://green.yahoo.com/news/afp/20080806/sc_afp/netherlandsenvironmentpollutionscience.html
oh wait, not the CO2, but same as the asphalt in this article.
Ron 6:53PM (8/12/2008)
how about putting magnetic bits in the asphalt and conductors on electric vehicles so that as they drive they actually charge the vehicle?
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E=MC2 9:21PM (8/12/2008)
Ha Ha Ron, that was a good one because everyone with a high school education knows that it does not work that way.
Chris M 3:40AM (8/13/2008)
And for those who slept too much in science class...
Magnets in the road would indeed create electric currents in wires moving over them, but it would also create an electrodynamic drag proportional to the electric power produced, and that drag would cost more energy than the wires could produce. It would be an overall energy loss.
Rick 5:26PM (8/13/2008)
Some geeks woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning it seems.
Overall, very cool application here, I hope to see some of these programs in the US.
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