Solar roads, shifts in thinking ... and paying attention.

Keeler, late of the at-large council race, sent me a link on Tuesday morning. A chat broke out. First, here's the story.

The World’s First Solar Road Is Producing More Energy Than Expected, by Katie Valentine (Think Progress)

In its first six months of existence, the world’s first solar road is performing even better than developers thought.

The road, which opened in the Netherlands in November of last year, has produced more than 3,000 kilowatt-hours of energy — enough to power a single small household for one year, according to Al-Jazeera America.

“If we translate this to an annual yield, we expect more than the 70kwh per square meter per year,” Sten de Wit, a spokesman for the project — dubbed SolaRoad — told Al Jazeera America. “We predicted [this] as an upper limit in the laboratory stage. We can therefore conclude that it was a successful first half year.”

De Wit said in a statement that he didn’t “expect a yield as high as this so quickly.”

The 230-foot stretch of road, which is embedded with solar cells that are protected by two layers of safety glass, is built for bike traffic, a use that reflects the road’s environmentally-friendly message and the cycling-heavy culture of the Netherlands. However, the road could withstand heavier traffic if needed, according to one of the project’s developers.

I replied, "I don't see that on the Board of Works agenda today -- great link."

Adam: "Additional incentive for bike lanes. Not only will it reduce emissions from cars but also renewable energy for lights, homes, etc."

Roger: "Agreed. It's important for us to discuss innovations like this even if it appears unlikely that we'd ever actively consider them -- unless, of course, there is a fundamental shift in thinking."

Adam: "Well, the fundamental shift in thinking needs to only happen at the local government level in New Albany. I think it's possible. If we elect people who are capable of critical thinking then our large projects will be analyzed better. Silver Street Park is a great example of a project that could have been ran by solar panels installed above the facility while only costing 2% of the total budget. Saving taxpayer dollars while completing city level projects should be a no-brainer. It's a shame a lot of the administration doesn't pay attention to things like this."