A soybean oil sealant is now being tested on roadways (Photo courtesy of BioSpan Technologies)
Asphalt is usually made with oil.
The rising price of oil has made it more
expensive to repave roadways. Now some
cities are starting to give green alternatives
a chance. Julie Grant reports:
Transcript
Asphalt is usually made with oil.
The rising price of oil has made it more
expensive to repave roadways. Now some
cities are starting to give green alternatives
a chance. Julie Grant reports:
Cities use asphalt to reseal old roads. It oozes in and fills
the cracks, extending the life of the pavement.
But the price has gone up 200% in the last two years.
Paul Barnett is director of the Akron, Ohio Public Works
Bureau.
This year he plans to try a soybean-based sealant. Barnett
says now it costs about the same oil-based asphalt, but the
road runoff is better for the environment.
“So you have a soybean oil that’s biodegradable instead of a
petroleum product that’s going into the streams and creeks,
rivers.”
The cost of soybeans has also been increasing – for food,
for fuel, and now for things like pavement.
Barnett figures if soybean oil becomes popular, it will drive
the price higher, but for right now it’s a good alternative to
asphalt on some roadways.
For The Environment Report, I’m Julie Grant.