China opens world’s first carbon-negative highway

In China, the first section of the 152.7 km Jinan-Hefei highway has opened to traffic, which conventionally absorbs more carbon dioxide emissions than it produces. The difference between CO2 emissions and absorption in this segment reaches 9,000 tons per year. In China, they dream that this experience can be extended to all the country’s highways, the length of which has reached 184 thousand km and is growing by 6000 km every year.

Image source: AI generation Kandinsky 3.1/3DNews

Motor transport and especially trucks remain a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. This also applies to roadside infrastructure – gas stations, car service areas and rest areas for citizens on the road, as well as all possible buildings from utility to residential. The Jinan-Hefei Highway (G35) takes into account most of these factors and compensates for them where possible.

The green expressway project was developed by Shandong Hi-Speed ​​Group (SDHS). The pre-selected section was expanded to eight lanes. The speed on the highway is limited to 120 km/h. The road has two large parking lots, three rest areas and ten service stations.

Electric power along the green section of the route is provided by renewable sources – sun and wind. The walls of buildings, vehicle canopies, overpasses and everything where it makes practical sense are equipped with solar panels. Charging of electric vehicles is also provided. Wind power plants also contribute to the generation in the form of small wind turbines located along the road. Finally, geothermal energy is used in the form of heat pumps to heat the buildings.

The total capacity of solar panels along the route reaches 30 MW. The annual production of panels is 33 GWh. For the night use of electricity, a storage network with a total power of 9 MW and a capacity of 18 MWh has been created. Electrical networks on the “green” section of the route are mostly local, although they probably use the flow in some way.

It should be added that the main absorber of CO2 in the area of ​​the environmentally friendly route is green space. All other measures, including building construction methods, are aimed at reducing emissions. Finally, the section of the route is under very serious video surveillance, which makes it possible to continuously monitor its condition. This measure helps optimize highway maintenance and also reduces unnecessary emissions.

According to calculations, the green section of the highway emits 13,600 tons of carbon into the atmosphere annually. The clean energy technologies implemented on it make it possible to offset emissions by 22,500 tons per year, which will lead to a reduction in emissions by 9,000 tons per year.