Highways could one day transport electricity and hydrogen fuel, as well as enabling vehicles to travel at nearly 500 miles per hour, according to a new study. The setup would combine three green technologies into one piece of infrastructure, making each one financially more feasible.
The system is a twist on maglev transportation, in which cars containing superconducting material are suspended over a magnetic guideway. Maglev systems transport vehicles frictionlessly, but are very expensive.
Superconductors can also conduct electricity highly efficiently, without any loss of power along the way. But superconductor transmission lines are extremely costly because they only work at temperatures more than 100 degrees below zero.
Meanwhile hydrogen is a promising green fuel source, but it’s difficult to transport because it’s a gas at room temperature, and liquid hydrogen pipelines are expensive because of the cooling required.
In the new study, researchers propose flipping the conventional design of maglev systems upside down with magnetic vehicles suspended over a superconducting guideway, a setup they dub SClev.
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