Smart Pavement
Ballari et al.
Let them eat smog!
A pavement coating tested in the Netherlands could reduce air pollution almost half, claims a paper in the Journal of Hazardous Materials.
Tested over the course of a year on a block in Hengelo, Netherlands, concrete blocks covered with a titanium oxide coating removed an average of 19 percent of pollution from NO and NO2 over the course of a day, up to 45 percent during ideal weather conditions--days with low humidity and high radiation.
The photocatalytic paving stones are more expensive than regular concrete, but could help reduce the concentration of smog in urban areas. Photocatalytic cement is already being used on one busy stretch of sidewalk in Chicago.
[LA Times]
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