--- title: This Concrete Can Melt Snow and Ice description: Concrete that melts ice and snow, the next step in a clean energy future and more. canonical: https://time.com/4193892/concrete-melt-snow-ice/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-26T17:01:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:00:32.483Z article:section: Ideas og:title: This Concrete Can Melt Snow and Ice og:description: These are today's best ideas og:url: https://time.com/4193892/concrete-melt-snow-ice/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Concrete Can Melt Snow and Ice twitter:description: These are today's best ideas twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Concrete Can Melt Snow and Ice by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Jan 26, 2016 5:01 PM UTC by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Jan 26, 2016 5:01 PM UTC **1\.** [**Roads made with this concrete could clear themselves of snow and ice.**](http://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/unltoday/article/de-icing-concrete-could-improve-roadway-safety/) By Scott Schrage at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln **2\.** [**The U.S. is finally making more clean energy. Now we need a way to deliver it.**](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/us-could-switch-mostly-renewable-energy-no-batteries-needed-180957925/) By Sarah Zielinski in Smithsonian **3\.** [**China’s slowdown is threatening Africa’s resurgence.**](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/26/world/africa/african-economies-and-hopes-for-new-era-are-shaken-by-china.html) By Norimitsu Onishi in the New York Times **4\.** [**Find out how cities are slashing traffic fatalities with data.**](http://www.psmag.com/politics-and-law/a-data-driven-approach-to-safe-driving) By Allison Shapiro in Pacific Standard **5\.** [**This startup puts refugee chefs in commercial kitchens to give New Yorkers unique meals.**](http://www.fastcoexist.com/3055706/change-generation/this-startup-hires-refugee-chefs-to-cook-you-a-traditional-meal) By Adele Peters in Fast Co.Exist  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/) _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4193892/concrete-melt-snow-ice/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4193892/concrete-melt-snow-ice/"},"headline":"This Concrete Can Melt Snow and Ice","datePublished":"2016-01-26T17:01:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:00:32.483Z","description":"These are today's best ideas","url":"https://time.com/4193892/concrete-melt-snow-ice/","keywords":["Innovation","Africa","China","Refugees","Traffic","Blizzard","Renewable energy"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4193892/concrete-melt-snow-ice/","name":"This Concrete Can Melt Snow and Ice"}}]}] ```