The climate change emergency is something we have all been made aware of in recent years. Whether you have listened to 17 year old Greta Thunberg, noticed the price of plastic bags creep up to 15 pence or watched sea life struggle to survive amongst masses of plastic, we can all agree that it is becoming an increasingly large problem.
We have seen advancements in technology in recent years with different innovative ideas demonstrated to help relieve the pressure of climate change upon the planet.
In 2018 Sweden opened the worlds first electrified road as a way to promote the use of electric vehicles.
What are Electrified Roads?
There are currently 6.6 million trucks on EU roads. Government Europa calculates that this amounts to 27% of all EU CO2 emissions, which is an increase of 25% since 1990. This means that it is imperative that measures are taken to reduce the emissions, something that can be done through the use of electric vehicles.
Unfortunately, the downside to electric vehicles is that they have limited battery life for travelling long distances and they can be fairly expensive to purchase.
However, there is a solution currently in development - electrified roads. Electrified roads keep electric vehicles charged, allowing them to be more practical for longer distances. Also, as a battery can be charged more frequently, they can also be smaller, which makes them a lot cheaper and less of a space requirement in the vehicle. Space which can be used for cargo.
How Does it Work?
As a vehicle drives over an electrified road a movable arm will connect to the electrified track. This transfers energy from the road to the battery, charging the vehicle. When a vehicle stops or overtakes another vehicle on the road they are disconnected from the track. The system can also take into account vehicle energy consumption, ensuring drivers can be debited for the amount of energy they have used.
These roads are still completely safe to walk upon even when covered in water as there is no electricity on the surface of the road.
The Impact on the UK
The decarbonisation of road freight is a major talking point as many countries strive to meet ambitious carbon-neutral goals. This means that we can expect to see many more electric vehicles on the roads. If more roads are filled with electric vehicles we can expect to also see a rise in the amount of electrical charging solutions such as electrified roads available.
At the moment the UK is considering creating 'E-Highways' as a means of reducing freight vehicle emissions and helping to make it more realistic for electric trucks to be on the roads for long-distance driving. Such changes to the transport industry would help promote the use of electric vehicles and allow the UK to become much more sustainable.
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