this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2024
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This just in: deserts and parking lots exist and aren't swarmed by high speed traffic.
The benefits of covering highways are more immediately visible (provide shade to cool drivers and reduce blinding by the sun).
I agree those other places have benefits.
Covering deserts will help cool them and reduce evaporation of moisture on the surface, possibly restoring the livability of a more diverse ecosystem. However, panels in the desert get dusty quickly, don't get cleaned by rain often, and would require water be brought in to clean them.
Covering parking lots would help cool cars, but I fear panels would be prime targets for vandalism.
Everything has a drawback, but covering roads and highways panels would be frequently equally as prone to damage ( every time there is a downed tree or fender bender). As for dust, the exhaust fumes of 100,000s of vechiles adds up, and the panels cannot simply be hit with compressed air. The soot sticks to surfaces.
Its nice in theory but actually covering highways in panels would make them disgusting choked tunnels and ruin the panels. Covering the highways at all even with a light canvas to block sun would be prohibitively difficult to make both effective and maintainable.
Deserts have their own unique ecosystems. I don’t think anyone’s qualified in deciding we need to go turning them into arable land