Glow-in-the-dark cycle paths

Most cyclists would settle for cycle lanes that are direct and well-maintained, but the latest thinking is that they should glow in the dark.

Starpath is a new surface treatment for paths that absorbs energy from the sun during the day and then releases it at night, causing the particles embedded in the ground to glow like a carpet of stars.

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British company Pro-Teq claims Starpath offers an environmentally-friendly alternative to street lighting and that its anti-slip properties make it ideal for use on bike paths.

According to the owner of Pro-Teq Surfacing, Hamish Scott: “There is nothing like Starpath in the world, this product adjusts to the natural light, so if it is pitch black outside the luminous natural earth enhances, and if the sky is lighter, it won’t release as much luminosity – it adjusts accordingly.”

Starpath can be quickly and easily applied to existing paths – a 150m stretch currently being trialled in Cambridge was installed and ready to use in less than five hours.

https://youtu.be/DirpewBP6Cw

Glowing trees

If the glow from a Starpath cycle lane proves insufficient, trees with naturally-glowing leaves could soon illuminate streets without without the need for conventional street lamps. Researchers in Taiwan have discovered that the addition of gold nanoparticles to the leaves of the Bacopa Caroliniana tree causes them to glow.

The glowing plants reduce light pollution while at the same time absorbing CO₂.

Dr Yen-Hsun Su at Taiwan’s Cheng Kung University was working on alternatives to LED lights when he discovered that tiny particles of gold caused chlorophyll in the plants to produce a reddish luminescence.

Dr Yen-Hsun Su told Chemistry World: “In the future, bio-LED could be used to make roadside trees luminescent at night. This will save energy and absorb CO₂ as the bio-LED luminescence will cause the chloroplast to conduct photosynthesis.”

The wrong kind of lights

With the news this week focussed on the effect that our appetite for energy has on prices, perhaps the time is right to ask why so many lights are left on. Office buildings in cities routinely leave lights on overnight and many street lamps remain on through the small hours.

We take a one-size-fits-all approach to street lighting, but the needs of pedestrians and motorists are different.

If organisations responsible for lighting, as part of their planned maintenance and replacement programmes, devised provision for driving and walking separately they would be able to turn off the lights for drivers, but keep on the lower-powered lights for pedestrians. Naturally, this would generally only apply to main roads, but the savings in energy would be worthwhile. In some cases, glow-in-the-dark paths and luminescent trees could play a role.