Energy from asphalt

Ooms Avenhorn Holding, Tipspit and WTH Vloerverwarming have jointly developed Road Energy Systems®, a method for heating and cooling buildings and roads.
Road Energy Systems® comprises an asphalt concrete layer with a reinforced structure and a water-bearing medium.

Asphalt concrete’s dark colour has an excellent heat-absorbing property. The water-bearing medium is able to cool the asphalt in summer (energy extraction) and heat it during winter (energy addition). The asphalt collector represents a new way of harnessing solar energy. The longer and more intensively solar energy is used, the more important it becomes as an environmentally friendly way of meeting our energy needs. In recent years it has become increasingly evident that the fossil fuels used to generate energy are not inexhaustible and that their use is harmful to the environment (greenhouse effect).
The aim of Road Energy Systems® is to achieve energy savings by using thermal energy stored in aquifers for cooling and/or heating in commercial and industrial buildings, industry, residential constructions, earthworks, civil and hydraulic engineering and the agricultural sector.

Storing energy in the ground

Storing energy in the ground is an energy-saving, environmentally friendly heating and cooling technique. In summer, Road Energy Systems® generates considerable heat. This heat is stored in the ground and can be pumped up for heating purposes in winter. Conversely, the stored winter cold can be used for cooling in summer. The warm and cold water are seperately stored in an underground water-bearing sandy layer (an aquifer). The hot and cold groundwater can be pumped up from the aquifer or it can be injected back. The vertical conveyor pipelines running from the hot and cold source are located approximately one hundred metres apart and can be as much as one hundred metres deep. In winter, groundwater is pumped up from the heat source. After it has been used for heating, by allowing it through the asphalt collector, it is injected into the cold source. In summer the process works in the opposite direction, with water being pumped up from the cold source and used for cooling. The heated water is then once again led through the asphalt collector, where it is further heated by the sun and then injected into the heat source in the ground. This system saves considerable primary energy (natural gas) as less cooling and heating is required by the central heating and cooling systems.
The combined use of this storage system with heat pumps and floor and wall heating requires the control systems to be thoroughly tuned to match the actual requirement.

Improved traffic safety

In winter the temperature of asphalt can be kept above freezing, preventing the formation of ice on the road. The evaporation rate of rain and meltwater is also speeded up. In summer, cooling the surface to below the temperature at which bitumen begins to soften prevents the asphalt structures from being deformed. This in turn prevents the formation of ruts or permanent deformation, which significantly improves traffic safety, especially under poor weather conditions.
The combination of a reinforced asphalt structure with a heating system ensures that the road surface will develop fewer cracks in winter. An asphalt construction incorporating Road Energy Systems® has a longer life than traditional constructions. This means less road maintenance, resulting in fewer road closures and traffic jams and hence improved traffic safety mobility.
Reducing the use of salt
Using Road Energy Systems® to heat roads in winter results in savings on the use of salt on icy roads, thus lowering the environmental impact of salt.
Reduction in CO2 emissions
Using Road Energy Systems® to heat buildings means using less fossil fuel, which reduces CO2 emissions.

Environmental gain

Reduction in CO2 emissions
Using Road Energy Systems® to heat buildings means using less fossil fuel, which reduces CO2 emissions.

Reducing the use of salt
Using Road Energy Systems® to heat roads in winter results in savings on the use of salt on icy roads, thus lowering the environmental impact of salt.

This page originally published at:  http://www.roadenergysystems.nl/