On a small section of highway near the exit for the small town of West Point, Georgia, a new experiment is underway: The shoulder next to the road is now planted with Kernza, a perennial grain that can help fight climate change.

Until recently, like most roadsides, the area was planted with grass, and this particular stretch of highway in a relatively rural part of Georgia might seem like an unlikely place for sustainable innovation. But it happens to be part of “The Ray,” a project to create the world’s first sustainable highway.