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AnonTechie [soylentnews.org] writes:

The asphalt used in roads has traditionally been made from aggregate — small particles of rock — and products made from crude oil. When crude oil is refined, it produces a variety of products including light fuels like gasoline, heavier plastics and also dense asphalt. But the price of asphalt made from crude oil is pretty high, about $700 to $800 per ton, Wen said. That really adds up. One lane of a highway, paved for one mile, costs about $1 million. Now you know where your taxes go !

One alternative to traditional asphalt that Wen and the people in his lab are looking into is bioasphalt. Instead of using petroleum, waste cooking oil is processed into asphalt.

http://news.wsu.edu/2014/02/18/rock-doc-designing- better-asphalt-at-wsu/ [wsu.edu]

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