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Poland Builds a Solar-Powered Bike Path That Glows Blue At Night (techcrunch.com) 104

Posted by BeauHD from the renewable-energy dept.
Poland recently unveiled a new solar-powered bike path in the town of Pruszkow that is built with "light-emitting material" that gets its power from the sun. While the bike path has the potential to glow multiple different colors, the path in Prusczkow glows a cool blue for up to 10 hours in the dark. TechCrunch reports: The company that made it, TPA sp. z o.o, is an engineering firm focused on future tech. They expect this sort of road to be useful in larger projects -- highways, say -- but for now they're limiting it to bike paths until they can test the material in the wild. They said that this type of path may be installed in Warsaw soon and that it can glow multiple colors. The lane uses luminophores -- chemicals that "ingest" light -- to keep the bike path nicely lit at night. They chose blue to "match the Mazurian landscape" where lakes abound. You can read a bit more at Gazeta Wyborcza if your Polish isn't too rusty or you can just bask in the cold beauty of a glowing bike lane in deepest Poland.
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Poland Builds a Solar-Powered Bike Path That Glows Blue At Night More

Poland Builds a Solar-Powered Bike Path That Glows Blue At Night

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  • Glow in the dark (Score:5, Insightful)

    by GuB-42 ( 2483988 ) on Friday October 07, 2016 @08:50PM (#53035721)

    Well, that's a very convoluted way of saying they covered the path with glow-in-the-dark paint.

  • Aren't we worried about LED streetlights that emit too much blue light? Now we're making the bike pathways glow blue?

    • Re:More blue light? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Fly Swatter ( 30498 ) on Friday October 07, 2016 @08:58PM (#53035757) Homepage

      Are you worried about trying to not fall asleep while biking ?

      Maybe this is the solution.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by drnb ( 2434720 )

      Aren't we worried about LED streetlights that emit too much blue light? Now we're making the bike pathways glow blue?

      They want the cyclists to be awake for safety reasons.

    • Re:More blue light? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by TooManyNames ( 711346 ) on Friday October 07, 2016 @10:54PM (#53036099)
      This is basically a durable glow-in-the-dark paint, not a bunch of LEDs. If you look at that first photo from the article (where the path appears to glow somewhat brightly), you'll noticed that it was taken with a bit of a long exposure (also why the sunset seems so bright). While I'm sure the paths will be quite visible at night, I hardly think that they'll approach anywhere near the magnitude of LEDs. In other words, I highly doubt that this will have much of an impact on the populace's nighttime response, though it'll probably confuse some insects or something.
    • Bike lights are already mostly LEDs. It's quite unfortunate that white LEDs became popular for front lights, because they destroy night vision much faster than yellow (red+green) LEDs. The most dangerous ones flash (to conserve power) and are very bright. The person riding them gets enough persistence of vision to see, but from the perspective of oncoming vehicles you're a dot (not large enough for the visual cortex to be able to accurately estimate distance) that keeps disappearing.

  • You have to read the linked article; the same kewl blue was used to make the first chalk outline where the body was found by homicide cops.

    If there will ever be that rare instance when you actually read a slashdot article, NOW is the time.

    • And to pile insult upon injury, they nicked his bike.

  • Jeeez, can't ANYBODY give them credit for applying an energy-efficient lighting solution for the bikers? They deserve as much attention (if not more, since they aren't gas-guzzlers) as any segment of the population. Additionally, if the trial proves to be effective, it will be applied to roadways for increased safety for the motorists.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      It's a DUMB idea. As someone who rides in the night, your eyes get used to the dark, there's enough light from the moon, and my LED headlights are more than enough. This chemical shit will just aggravate nocturnal animals and add more toxins to the environment.

      • Re:Poland Builds a Solar-Powered Bike Path That Gl (Score:4, Insightful)

        by TooManyNames ( 711346 ) on Friday October 07, 2016 @11:07PM (#53036145)

        It's not a dumb idea, nor is it particularly bright (in the literal sense ;) ).

        The path isn't comprised of a bunch of LEDs, it's basically coated with a durable glow-in-the-dark paint. That's a low-intensity light that won't be blinding by any stretch, and is actually a pretty good idea. As someone who actually rides at night (I commute ~2,500 miles/year on my bike), I'd welcome something like this as it'd be just bright enough to expose things, like branches or people walking in dark clothing, in the path before you're right up on them. Moreover, I'd welcome this over using street lamps to light the paths I take that are currently unlit, since, as I mentioned, this would entail more of a dull glow than a harsh light.

        Also, your solution is to use the moon? I take it that there's always a full moon and clear skies where you are?

        • Despite the a/c's crude phrasing, we should be careful about introducing large amounts of anything new into the environment. I was just reading about "Project Plowshare", an idea in the '60s to use nuclear bombs to remodel the earth for engineering projects. Does anyone still think that's a good idea (not you Donald)?

          Britain's rivers and lakes polluted by microplastics in paint used for road markings [independent.co.uk]

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by hawguy ( 1600213 )

            Despite the a/c's crude phrasing, we should be careful about introducing large amounts of anything new into the environment. I was just reading about "Project Plowshare", an idea in the '60s to use nuclear bombs to remodel the earth for engineering projects. Does anyone still think that's a good idea (not you Donald)?

            Britain's rivers and lakes polluted by microplastics in paint used for road markings [independent.co.uk]

            I'm pretty sure this blue glowing paint is not powered by nuclear bombs - it would be somewhat brighter if that were the case, and would have a noticeable affect on maintenance costs.

            • This is what you earthlings call a joke, yes? but still the article has a cautionary note that the environmental effects are unknown.

              • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

                by flyingfsck ( 986395 )
                This is Europe, not California. Europeans know not to lick the bicycle paths.

                • This is Poland we're talking about, so I wouldn't be so sure...

        • My solution is using a decent bike light. Why people still insist on riding without one, or when they have one using it only to warn oncoming cars with a little blinky light is beyond me.

          LEDs were good enough to light up a path in front of me with a little (at the time lead acid but now...) lithium battery for several days worth of a commute between charges. Setup the beam pattern so it's equivalent to a cars, and nuke the path in front of you with as much light as you want.

          You could take this to extremes t

          • This isn't a replacement for a bike light any more than street lamps are a replacement for car headlights; it's there to augment night vision, that's all.

            I've got a good headlight for my bike, and I use it at night all the time, but it still has its limitations. Have you never come across something, like a stray branch or random hunk of metal, when you're biking at night? These things are often dark, not particularly reflective, and laying on a dark surface, so they're easy to miss until you're basically ru

            • I'd also note that this applies to people walking on bike paths at night as well.

              Oh yes this gives me the shits. I run on bike paths at night but I dress in bright colours and I also have an LED running band.

              But really it is still sad that we are talking about augmenting vision when the vast majority of cyclists don't put in basic efforts into their lights. (I live in the Netherlands, we have a lot of cyclists).

      • Well, in Europe, people and animals are actually used to street lights. This is not the DPRK.

    • Jeeez, can't ANYBODY give them credit for applying an energy-efficient lighting solution for the bikers?

      No, because they haven't done that. It would be a lot cheaper to put normal paint with reflective particules in it down, and let people's bicycle lights illuminate it. You already need one to safely ride at night; for the parts of your journey that aren't on a cycle path, so that you don't hit an oncoming cyclist on the cycle path, so that you don't run over a rock or a tack on the cycle path... This solves zero problems and costs money better spent elsewhere.

      • This stuff would be better on foot paths and as trail markers rather than as bike path lighting. Put it on places like along the edge of stairs to mark trip hazards and the like.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by kitezh ( 1442937 )
      It could be useful for the lane marker paint to make it easier to see at night, especially when on a winding road with lots of turns just out of reach of your headlights.

  • If you hang out too long on the glow in the dark bike path you can get the abortion that is denied you under any form of Polish law.

    • Well they seem to have backed down in the face of widespread opposition so that's a plus for democracy and shows that the state's will and Rome's rule can be overcome.

  • Moral hazzard (Score:3)

    by quenda ( 644621 ) on Friday October 07, 2016 @11:41PM (#53036233)

    I'm not in favour of anything that encourages people to ride at night without lights, so be hard to see.
    If a bike has lights, even dim ones, standard cateye-reflective paint is better, cheaper, and works after overcast winter days.

    • Very much this. You can get a very bright and functional light for very cheap these days. Everybody who is riding in the night or even during other times of reduced visibility should have a light. Personally, I leave mine on all the time, like daytime running lights on a car. Increased visibility is great for improving safety.

    • The problem with headlights though is that even with cubic-reflector surfaces they still obey the inverse-quad law - something twice as far away gets hit by 1/4 the light from your headlights, and only 1/4 as much of that makes it back to you. Hence the relatively sharp line of darkness around a campfire or other solitary light source on a dark night.

      In essence, your own reflected light blinds you to more distant objects. Worse, your headlight blinds oncoming people to their environment long before eithe

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by quenda ( 644621 )

        even with cubic-reflector surfaces they still obey the inverse-quad law -

        Ahh ... no! The whole point of corner reflectors (aka cubic, retro) is to avoid that problem. What you describe is an ordinary white surface.
        Reconsider?

        Retro-reflective paint makes things visible even with a tiny bike-light, far beyond your stopping distance.
        On second thoughts, there is a big problem painting the whole path instead of just the edges - it will be too bright close up.
        But if pedestrians have a separate parallel path, as in the above Polish case, there is no need to light the whole path. Other

    • Completely wrong. Reason no. 1: this will not help you ride without a headlight much, it's much too dim. Reason no.2: headlights are directional, this is much better on curves and works better at a distance.

      BTW: riding at night without a headlight is just stupid, we fully agree on that.

  • this paint is very, very dim (Score:3)

    by YesIAmAScript ( 886271 ) on Saturday October 08, 2016 @12:13AM (#53036285)

    Anyone who has used it knows. You can tell this is a very long exposure picture by the city glow in the background.

    It's bunk.

    Nissan painted a LEAF (car) in it recently and also used the same trick of long exposures to make it look like it wasn't just a dim, laughable glow.

    • For a brightly-lit city centre it will be useless but if you've ever been outside at night in an area like that photo for 20 minutes or so, you'll know that our eyes adapt to the dark and a faint glow when there's no other light can be all you need. You can't tell from photos how bright it is. Cool photo anyway.

    • That's a good thing actually. Light pollution is pollution. If it glows strong, it will make the surrounded plants retarded and make thousands of nocturnal animals insane.
      Even then, I wonder if they made the right choice of wavelength or if another one would have been better.

  • I suspect this effects the lighting environment less then alternate means such as street lights.

    As for bike lights ... I don't bike anymore due to health, but when I did I would not use a light powered by a generator. I wanted all my power to go into motion. Batteries would be a mess environmentally. Not to mention that I would probably forget to have a fresh paiora lot of the time.

    This would not be so great illuminating streets, but there you would have brighter lights for cars.

    I remember commuting home a

    • Somewhat off-topic from the main article, but to your point about bike lights, I've used both lights powered by a generator, and battery-powered lights.

      Unless you're in a high-level bike race (where you wouldn't have lights to being with), you're not going to notice any additional drag from a generator -- at least, not with the method my generator uses. It's not like it comes into direct contact with the wheel or anything; it just uses the circulation of permanent magnets around the center hub of the front

  • There is a path like this near Eindhoven, themed like Van Gogh's 'Starry Night'. http://www.holland.com/global/... [holland.com]

  • I like what they did on the pedestrian side where they just marked the edges and put in the occasional pedestrian sign. It would have been good if they did the same to the cycle path. There's no need to have the whole path covered. Just outline the path so that people can see where it's going.

    • There's no need to have the whole path covered. Just outline the path so that people can see where it's going.

      Not to mention that the paint makes it more slippery. I'm sure the cyclists will be delighted, especially during or after rain.

  • Portland Oregon, the bicycle capital of the US needs these!

    Drivers need to have these glow so they can stay off of them!

  • Poland is hindering the EU in being more effective reducing CO2 emissions because they want to protect their coal. Instead of actively steering the transformation, they try to stop it. Such solar-something toys are only tokenism and has no real effect. Neither do they test new technology nor do they help to proliferate existing technology. It is even worse than that what the Germans do. It is like politicians have not understood that we have to be carbon free be 2040/2050 (depending on the reduction curve).

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