When I was stationed in Germany one consistency I noticed in my travels, there wasn't a lot of wasted space. The region has survived two world wars, the people understand the need for renewable resources.
One solution to the problem that I was very impressed with was the use of "Highway" land as a place to grow trees for use in building materials and paper products. Imagine the thousands of acres in Ohio alone that serve no purpose along our freeways and interchanges. These acres can't be used for typical agriculture, they could however be used as tree farms.
I see it as a win win on many levels, the idea could be expanded upon many different ways.
Your thoughts?
Ten Bears