A ‘Green Powerhouse' in Dubai
0 Comments Published by Cornelius on Thursday, May 24, 2007 at 4:26 PM.
A little bit marketing splurlg and still to be tested in actual practical use, but interesting concept:"The Dynamic Architecture building, which will be constantly in motion changing its shape, will be able to generate electric energy for itself as well as for other buildings. Forty-eight wind turbines fitted between each rotating floors as well as the solar panels positioned on the roof of the building will produce energy from wind and the sunlight, with no pollution. The total energy produced by this inbuilt ‘powerhouse' every year will be worth approximately seven million dollars."
"Each turbine can produce 0.3 megawatt of electricity, compared to 1-1.5 megawatt generated by a normal vertical turbine (windmill). Considering that Dubai gets 4,000 wind hours annually, the turbines incorporated into the building can generate 1,200,000 kilowatt-hour of energy."
"The horizontal turbines of the Dynamic Architecture building are simply inserted between the floors, practically invisible. They neither need a pole nor a concrete foundation. In addition, they are at zero distance from the consumer, making also the maintenance much easier. The particular design of the building and the carbon fiber special shape of the wings take care of the acoustics issues. Producing that much electric energy without any implication on the aesthetic aspect of the building is a revolutionary step in tapping alternative energy sources. This production of green energy will have a positive impact on the environment and economy."
http://www.dynamicarchitecture.net
Related to this, a novel idea for eliminating floor-envy in businesses. Reminds me, as also mentioned in the post of the Stairway I visited in a Loire Castle in France. It is strange how you never realise, once inside the spiral that there are two levels to it.
Read the post on the a 1D skyscraper with a single corridor here
Labels: architecture, Energy, habitation, wind
Would a move to renewable energy incite a change of lifestyle or a change of lifestyle lead a move to renewable?
Should we reconsider & redesign the process and products used for drying hair? It might allow for a large uptake in sustainable, micro-generation schemes.
Political myth-busting and making over at Daily Mail
From Expedition's blog, who comment:
Now I pose the question, do I a) be please that the online readership of the Daily Mail are discussing such issues, or b) scream at the simplistic understanding of these people?
Labels: Energy, Politics, Sustainability, wind
On the Aesthetics of Wind Farms
0 Comments Published by Cornelius on Thursday, May 17, 2007 at 10:09 AM.
An interesting discussion over at Design Observer on the Aesthetics of Wind Farms."What is beauty and how does it relate to ecology? A look at contrasting aesthetic intuitions about wind farms reveals a paradigm shift in how we understand beauty. Our sense of the nature of beauty cannot be separated from our sense of the beauty of nature."
"In nature, there is no distinction between function and ornamentation. The opposite of wholeness is not ornamentation but fragmentation. Ugliness is the perception of fragmentation. Alienation is a form of fragmentation."
Read the full article here
Some quick updates from Sustainable Future.
Greenpeace has released their 2007 Global Energy Report. It's a great source of research data on the decentralisation of energy supply resources. Wonderful to see substantial projections of our possibilities.
"But now, four and a half billion years after the formation of the planet, nearly four billion years since the emergence of life on Earth, after five major extinction events, a single species is responsible for much of planet’s destiny. A species that through the power of its technology, the sheer size of its biomass, its ever-expanding energy and resource requirements, has changed the course of our planet’s history forever. And that species is, of course, us. The choices that we make now and in the future will have an effect on life on Earth just as great as that asteroid 65 million years ago. "
"Some of the measures needed to combat climate change may be incompatible with the WTO. For example the European Union is currently looking at introducing a border tax against energy intensive goods coming from countries that have not made commitments to reduce their greenhouse emissions. After all why should European companies internalise the cost of greenhouse emissions while American companies continue to pollute for free? If American companies can get away with polluting the planet for free then what’s to stop European companies moving to the US and simply exporting their products into Europe? Hence they need a climate protecting border tax to even up the playing field. But such a climate border tax may be against the rules of the WTO, as a restriction on trade. "
Excerpts from Courage and Climate Change by Russel Norman, Green Party Co-Leader. Third Annual State of the Planet Speech
Greenpeace has released their 2007 Global Energy Report. It's a great source of research data on the decentralisation of energy supply resources. Wonderful to see substantial projections of our possibilities.
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"But now, four and a half billion years after the formation of the planet, nearly four billion years since the emergence of life on Earth, after five major extinction events, a single species is responsible for much of planet’s destiny. A species that through the power of its technology, the sheer size of its biomass, its ever-expanding energy and resource requirements, has changed the course of our planet’s history forever. And that species is, of course, us. The choices that we make now and in the future will have an effect on life on Earth just as great as that asteroid 65 million years ago. "
"Some of the measures needed to combat climate change may be incompatible with the WTO. For example the European Union is currently looking at introducing a border tax against energy intensive goods coming from countries that have not made commitments to reduce their greenhouse emissions. After all why should European companies internalise the cost of greenhouse emissions while American companies continue to pollute for free? If American companies can get away with polluting the planet for free then what’s to stop European companies moving to the US and simply exporting their products into Europe? Hence they need a climate protecting border tax to even up the playing field. But such a climate border tax may be against the rules of the WTO, as a restriction on trade. "
Excerpts from Courage and Climate Change by Russel Norman, Green Party Co-Leader. Third Annual State of the Planet Speech
