The Dirt

The New York Times magazine released its 9th annual year of ideas issue, which includes a section highlighting the most innovative design ideas of the year. Here are a few of interest:

Bicycle Highways:

According to The New York Times magazine, a group of U.S. state highway officials approved the concept of a national “Bicycle Routes Corridors Plan,” the first step in a national bike Interstate system. Copenhagen, Denmark, has already moved forward with the idea: “Copenhagen, however, began last month to create the real thing: a system of as many as 15 extra-wide, segregated bike routes connecting the suburbs to the center of the city. These are not bucolic touring paths; Copenhagen’s bike highways are meant to move traffic. Nearly 40 percent of Copenhagen rides a bike to work. On Norrebrogade, a two-mile street in the center of the city, 36,000 cyclists clog the bike lane every day.” Read more.

Also, check out recent news on the national bicycle routes corridor planning process and a proposed map of the national bike infrastructure system.

Synthetic Carbon-Eating Trees:

Klaus Lackner, a Columbia University scientist has been exploring the development of artificial carbon-eating trees. The artificial trees would be designed to be more effective at cleaning up CO2 than natural trees. “The treelike devices [...] resemble giant fly swatters in one design. They use carbon-capture and storage technology similar to the kind that will be deployed at large power plants, but they aim to absorb carbon from dispersed emissions sources, like vehicles and residences, whose mobility or small size makes individual filters impractical or inefficient.” A group of UK scientists are advocating for more investment in the concept. “This summer, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers estimated that a forest of 100,000 such trees could mop up half the United Kingdom’s carbon emissions, making the forest thousands of times more effective than its natural counterparts.” Read more.

Also, check out a Times Online (UK) article on the Institute of Mechanical Engineer’s plan for rolling out synthetic carbon-eating trees in the UK: “In the first report on such geo-engineering by practising engineers, the institution calculates that 100,000 artificial trees — which could fit into 600ha (1,500 acres) — would be enough to capture all emissions from Britain’s homes, transport and light industry. It says that five million would do the same for the whole world.”  

Lastly, learn more about the idea at Columbia University’s Web site.

Smart growth advocates have long opposed suburban cul-de-sacs, “meandering, dead-end streets” that reflect “poor land use” decisions, and make suburbanites drive more to get in and out of their neighborhoods. Virginia, under Governor Tim Kaine, has actually limited the use of cul-de-sacs in future residential neighborhood development. “New rules require that all new subdivisions attain a certain level of “connectivity,” with ample through streets connecting them to other neighborhoods and nearby commercial areas.” Virgina also added in some powerful incentives for making sure communities follow the new rules: “If subdivisions fail to comply, Virginia won’t provide maintenance and snowplow services, a big disincentive in a state where the government provides 83 percent of road services.” Read more.

Also, check out a Washington Post article on Virginia’s work to ban cul-de-sacs.

Image credit: Columbia University, Earth Institute