One of the big questions about electric vehicles is where we'll charge them out on the road. Finland hopes to solve that riddle by building a carbon-neutral "green highway" that would include charging stations and biofuel stations.

The idea is to make it easy to embrace alt-fuel vehicles, and the project would focus on an 81-mile stretch of road that would link the cities of Turku and Vaalimaa near the Russian border. Authorities in the town of Loviisa, east of Helsinki and along the proposed highway, suggested the "green" approach and are leading the project.

"The aim is to create the model for an ecological highway that could be used even on an international level," city official Aki Marjasvaara told AFP. "No other such project exists. This would set an example to the world."

It is an incredibly ambitious idea. In addition to providing charging stations, the plan would use garbage and other renewable resources to produce biofuels and generate electricity. There also is some discussion of installing "smart" lighting that would turn itself off when there are no vehicles on the roadway. The road would of course include traditional gasoline and diesel fueling stations.

Officials are drafting a study examining the project's feasibility and cost. They hope to finish the study in March and believe the project could be completed by 2016 at a cost of 700 million Euros (about $900 million). Marjasvaara told AFP he expects the road to be at least partially financed through investments from large companies like Fortum, Neste Oil and Ensto.

Photo: Chiva Congelado / Flickr. The highway through Porvoo, Finland, a city along the proposed "green highway."

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