DEFINITION
the goal of road energy is to collect the heat from asphalt surfaces in order to heat homes and buildings

AKA
Road Energy System, developed by Ooms Avenhorn Holding BV, a Dutch civil engineering company

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
amount of energy/heat derived

ILLUSTRATION


CASE STUDIES

"Their thermal energy system, which collects solar energy from a 200-yard stretch of road and a parking lot, powers a 70-unit 4-story apartment complex in the small village of Avenhorn; the heat stored from 36,000 sq ft of pavement during the summer helps keep a 160,000 sq ft-industrial park warm in the winter.

Originally a system erected to reduce road maintenance costs, Ooms' technology consists of a network of flexible pipes held in place by a grid and covered over by asphalt - which helps magnify solar heat. Heated water coursing through the pipes is pumped deep underground into aquifers; it can then be retrieved, even months later, to keep the road ice-free during the winter. Alternatively, the system can pump cold water from a separate reservoir to cool homes or office buildings in the summer.
Though the water typically isn't hot enough on its own - it must first go through an electricity-powered heat pump - and the installation cost is about twice that of a conventional gas heating system, the energy required is only about half of what would otherwise be needed. That not only means lower heating bills but, perhaps more crucially, 50% less carbon emissions." -Treehugger

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Associated Press article about the technology

Solar Roadways
Kinetic Roadway Energy Harvesting
Wind Turbine Traffic Barriers