Superconductor highway: Dream or key to green mobility?

Electric mobility, fuel cell technology and many more: there are many ways in which researchers and politicians are trying to steer the transport world towards a greener future - to reduce emissions and meet climate targets. However, there is no clear and simple solution. Time and again, the transport sector has struggled to become climate neutral. After years of scientists toying with the idea, an international research team is now suggesting that the solution to many problems could be one - superconductors for motorways. 

These are motorways - although the system could be extended to other stretches of road at a later date - on which cars and trucks alike are expected to glide along at lightning speeds on superconducting magnets. "With speeds of at least 640 kilometres per hour, the superconducting system should be able to transport people and goods" - says a new study. The superconducting materials can be installed under existing motorways, for example, to use existing infrastructure. The vehicles, whether small cars or trucks, on the other hand, would only need a magnet to allow them to hover above the superconductor track.  

The idea is certainly not new, but the group of researchers from the University of Houston, the Adelwitz Technologiezentrum GmbH in Torgau, Saxony, and the Leibniz Institute in Dresden have given it a long-needed addition. For the super magnets to work properly, they need very low temperatures. According to the scientists' plan, however, the superconductor could simply be equipped with a pipeline, allowing liquid hydrogen to flow for cooling. And that is where the further potential of this technology lies, which goes even further than the possibility of fast and emission-free transport for vehicles of all sizes. For the pipelines can also play a key role in promoting hydrogen mobility. The pipeline would not only provide the superconductors with the necessary cooling, but also serve as a long-range means of transporting hydrogen. 

That a project of this magnitude would be a major undertaking for any state, even with the support of large corporations and private investors, is no surprise. But the duality of the benefits that superconducting highways would provide - the researchers say in their study - is undisputed. On the one hand, the new technology would enable faster and cleaner transport - at least on the main motorways. On the other hand, it would be a viable solution to the currently complex and costly delivery process of hydrogen - and would thus support the development of hydrogen as the main mode of propulsion for all those vehicles that would still be on traditional roads.  

Will the innovative project remain just that? Or will the coming years be testimony to a technological advance worthy of a science fiction novel?