Randall F. Dean proposes leasing the land around interstate highway interchanges to utility companies for solar panels. States already own and maintain these margins, which mostly sit unused. Revenue from the leases could fund road repairs while generating clean power for nearby cities.
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Hi everybody, Randall F. Dean, author of the new ebook all about climate called Too Little Too Late. Tonight I'd like to talk a little bit about what I think might be a huge missed opportunity: interstate interchanges.
No joke.
Let's talk. And I promise you, I'm not in a moving car. I pulled over to the side of the road to film this video, but I wanted to show something to you here that I'm surprised we haven't done this yet.
As you can see, I'm parked off the side of the road at one of thousands of interstate interchanges that we have here in the United States and frankly all around the planet. And you know what's interesting about these interchanges? The land here really can't be used for much of anything. I did some research on this and at least what what appears to me is that in the United States, the interstate margins, like surrounding this interstate interchange, are owned, operated, and maintained by the state that they're in.
So the State Road Commission has an obligation and a requirement to maintain those margins and keep them in good operating condition.
But especially near these exits, this is a close to a pretty traditional cloverleaf type exit and entrance, as you can see over here. And the interesting thing about that is you really don't want wildlife in there, because if there's wildlife in there, it's not going to do well. It's probably going to get hit by a car.
Now, if there's a natural wetland in that space, that might be okay. Birds might do better. Hope you're watching for turtles.
Uh, but one of the interesting things about this is that that's a space that we're basically paying to have maintained and mowed that really has no good practical use for wildlife or farming. You do have a few trees over here, so I guess you could get a little carbon sequestration if you had some trees. But you know, frankly, trees on these margins create a risk for high-speed vehicles if they go off the road. But I do see one thing that could work really well right here. A solar installation.
Now what if the state leased that land back to the utility companies and the utility companies paid the state a small per kilowatt-hour leasing fee and they also agreed to maintain wherever they have a solar installation?
And the other thing is, is most interchanges are near a population center. You can see the amount of traffic going by as we're getting close to 5 o'clock on a Friday as I'm filming this video.
Effectively, you've turned the interstate into a solar-powered toll road without toll plazas because you could use the money from the per kilowatt-hour leasing fee to fix the roads.
It's close to a population center, which means that the power generated here would basically almost be like free power for the city and the utility once the installation is put into place. Why haven't we done this? Why aren't we doing this everywhere?
It sure does seem like a no-brainer that is a missed opportunity. Let's get those solar installations Set up near our interstates. Let's start generating power close to the cities. Let's start reducing our carbon footprint and do it all starting now. And if you like this idea, share with others, especially your legislator and/or your local utility.
