This is an alternative to conventional snow plowing. In Boston a person can be fined if they don't clear the sidewalk after a snow storm. Sometimes the walk gets heavily caked with ice and becomes impossible to remove. The idea is to take a small internal combustion engine and a truck alternator and mount them on a small platform with wheels. The alternator drives an ordinary electric element that melts the ice. People who plow individual driveways could charge a little extra to clear the sidewalk. It might be possible to adapt this idea to very large trucks and replace conventional plowing altogether. It could also eliminate the need for road salt and help to clean up the water table.