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Air Pollution-Fighting Road Treatment Breaks Down Auto Emissions
Posted By Timon Singh On January 25, 2011 @ 3:30 pm In Green Products,Green Transportation | No Comments
Here at Inhabitat we’ve covered many designs for greener roadways – from solar streets  and kinetic-energy generating roads  to that machines lay out fully-assembled streets . However a U.S. company called Pureti, Inc.  has devised a plan to roll out pollution-fighting roads that actually clean up vehicle emissions.
Image © Scot63US 
Pureti, Inc. is currently conducting a field study  of a pollution-fighting road surface treatment that can be used on asphalt and concrete. The treatment utilizes naturally-occuring titanium dioxide , which is a photocatalytic  agent that reacts with sunlight to break down volatile organic compounds and other airborne pollutants.
A research team from Louisiana State University  have been field-testing Pureti’s product on both concrete and asphalt in a bid to find out its effect on air pollutants as well as its effect on the surrounding environment. According to initial test results, there was a 70 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide , which contributes to smog and acid rain. It is also expected to cut the levels of sulphur dioxide, but this has yet to be confirmed. With so fossil-fueled vehicles still on the streets, it is almost ironic that the roads they travel on could be utilized to reduce their emissions.
The U.S. currently has more than 5.7 million miles of paved highway, so Pureti, Inc’s pollution-fighting treatment could make a tremendous dent in auto emissions, stemming global warming and cutting down on environmental pollution like acid rain.
+ Pureti Inc 
Via Clean Technia 
Lead photo © Dusted 
Article printed from Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building: http://inhabitat.com
URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/air-pollution-fighting-road-treatment-breaks-down-auto-emissions/
URLs in this post:
 solar streets: http://inhabitat.com/four-solar-road-designs-unveiled-by-university-of-rhode-island/
 kinetic-energy generating roads: http://inhabitat.com/energy-generating-roads-by-innowattech/
 lay out fully-assembled streets: http://inhabitat.com/amazing-brick-machine-rolls-out-roads-like-carpet
 Pureti, Inc.: http://www.pureti.com/
 Scot63US: http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottummy/
 field study: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/01/prweb4995534.htm
 titanium dioxide: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_dioxide
 photocatalytic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photocatalysis
 Louisiana State University: http://www.lsu.edu/
 Clean Technia: http://cleantechnica.com/2011/01/25/roads-really-could-be-road-warriors-to-fight-greenhouse-gases/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29
 Dusted: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41894170408@N01/1103737/
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