The road in front of my house just got a new layer of blacktop. I don't know why; we didn't have potholes or crumbling pavement. Then I realized there is an election coming up. Bingo! But roads elsewhere need to repaved often due to weather conditions and high traffic that wear out the asphalt. In New York City, it's often the case of gaining access to the underground utilities. While most places put some old asphalt back into the system to be recycled, New York uses 100% recycled asphalt and it works just fine. This video shows how they do it, and why other communities should, too. Upgrading the recycling process would involve upfront expenses, but it would pay off over time. And that's the problem- no governmental body wants to spend money now in order to save money for other people who will be in office by then. (via TYWKIWDBI)
The main drawback is the increased emissions. I'm skeptical of their claim that they "scrub' or filter out the most harmful emissions, the technology for doing that is still crude. This is an area that needs some innovation. But yeah, we need to recycle asphalt to decrease out reliance on oil. Thanks for posting this.
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