Japan is a island country with limited land resources for the needs of its people. To help meets its land resource needs, Japan has pioneered innovative mega-construction, projects, such as an extension of one of its airport runways into the sea. Shimizu Corporation has conceived and designed some extremely bold, innovative and truly futuristic mega-construction projects, intended to help address some of the pressing environmental and energy challenges, that the human race currently faces, or will face in the future.
This futuristic Shimizu project is architectural marvel indeed. The design is intended to house up to 1 million people in an energy efficient and sustainable way. The structure stands 1.25 miles high at its summit. The pyramid’s foot print occupies approximately 3 square miles. The mega-structure would be constructed by robots using prefabricated modular construction components.
The mega-city pyramid would contain massive sky scrapers, suspended by a framework of 1,150 ft long shafts. The pyramids open air design allows sunlight to reach the pyramid’s core. The skyscrapers in the pyramid, house homes, offices, research facilities, shopping malls, restaurants, and other facilities typically found in an urban city.
The mega-city pyramid is gargantuan in scope. Some of the same potential problems beset this project, that beset the desert aqua-net. Additionally, such an idea may not be tenable in a world still riddled with terrorists.
This proposed project is pure think tank stuff, and likely a poor to bad idea. The premise of the design is that, trillions, yes, trillions of solar shields are launched into space to block or deflect enough of the sun’s rays, to reduce the temperature of the earth by two percent.
The solar shields would be just under 6,000 feet in diameter and be shot into space by a rail gun, or a coil gun yet to be built and tested. The idea is that such a reduction in the temperature would buy the inhabitants of earth, time to reverse their global warming ways, and transition to cleaner, green alternative energy. The solar shields would also collect energy from the sun, and presumably be transmitted back to earth somehow.
The project would cost trillions of dollars, five trillion dollars if the solar sunshades are constructed in space, speculates one scientist.
This project although creative and novel, is mercifully, beset with a number of potential problems, that will hopefully see to it, that this project never sees the light of day (pun intended.) If the science is wrong, and these Rube Goldberg’s are actually deleterious to our environment, and our weather patterns, how do we reverse this cooling? How long will they last? What effect will this space junk have on space travel and our satellite systems?
This futuristic project has been preceded by previous barrage construction in British history. A barrage is basically a dam. The dam would create enormous tidal electric power for Britain. The Severn Barrage is actually a collection of ideas, or designs, for damming the Severn Estuary, located between the coast of Wales and the coast of England.
The Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study, is currently being conducted to examine the overall feasibility and environmental impact, of various approaches for designing and building the dam. If design and constructed properly, such a barrage, or dam could be a real boon to the UK.
This novel and futuristic Shimizu alternative energy project, involves placing a belt of solar panels on the moon’s equator, spanning some 11,000 miles in length. Electricity is collected by the solar panels and stored on the moon. A power conversion facility located on the near side of the moon, would relay the massive electric power, after it is converted into high power microwaves, back to earth. The powerful microwaves would then be reconverted to stored electrical power, at a power plant on earth.
Much of the materials used from the project, would be taken from the moon’s surface, in order to minimize transports to and from the earth to the moon, with heavy and expensive payloads. Robots controlled from earth, would fabricate and assemble much of the solar panel and storage factory, directly on the moon’s surface.
The project is so futuristic, that is only in the planning stage. One of the potential problems that could result include, degradation of the solar panels and power station equipment from radiation and meteor showers etc. It is also unknown, what effect, if any, such a massive beam of high power microwaves would have on the environment and wild life. Finally, although it would most likely meet all of our energy needs here on earth, there would be a serious risk, in depending solely on the Luna ring for our energy needs, should it ever fail. The Luna ring is nevertheless, an extremely novel and innovative answer to our long term energy needs.
This Shimizu corporation environmental project, involves building a series of canals and lakes with artificial islands in each lake, for farming and for construction of cities. It is a revolutionary idea, and is enormous in scope.
The network of lakes would be located 95 miles apart and the lakes would be 20 miles in diameter. The network of canals feeding the lakes would be 35 feet deep and 165 feet wide. Presumably the oceans and large rivers such as the Nile, would populate the desert aqua-net with water. They would also act as transport waterways between the islands.
The theory behind how the islands in the middle of the lakes would become inhabitable, and arable, is that the lakes would cool the air above the land on each island. Additionally, the lakes would be salt lakes populated with algae and fish life. Water could be desalinated, and used to irrigate arable lands, and supply the island cities.
The unknown aspects of such a plan include, what effect if any, would there be, on weather patterns across the planet. Also, what effects if any, would result in our oceans and large rivers. The project, which is a fabulous one, nevertheless, has other potential problems. Such a project would require enormous political will and cooperation among countries. Also, who would benefit, who would populate the cities, and what about sovereignty? Whole new cities have been built in china to replace older ones, that today still remain largely uninhabited.
The project is only in the planning stages for these reasons. A tremendous amount of political cooperation, capital, and construction resources, would be required to realize this project.
References:
Ref 1: Futuristic mega-projects by Shimizu and FORUM.PRISONPLANET.COM/INDEX.PHP?TOPIC=174089.0
Ref 2: The Luna Ring: The First Solar Power Plant on the Moon
Ref 3: Space sunshade
Ref 4: Severn Barrage
Ref 5: WellHome
ref 6: Shimizu Corporation
Related posts: North Africa Regional Swro Desalination Project : Big Breakthrough Technology Reducing Energy and Overall Costs Zack Fair asked: The Industry Standard SolutionThe efficiency and...New iPhone 2009 release date and HSPA 7.2 service It has been a while since we have spoken...How To Manage Technology Projects Mike Echlin asked: As your business grows, you will...Solar Charging Case ‘the Clean & Free Power Source’ for Apple Iphone 3G Angelina Maben asked: The concept is straightforward to understand,...Predict the Future Gadgets Dan Ionescu asked: No one can know the future....
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
No comments:
Post a Comment