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.