Many of us hope to ‘live happily’ for a few more decades but is it possible with an array of doomsday predictions for the environment looming over our planet? And with the current rate of environment disasters, the world won’t be better than any remote dessert. And isn’t it obvious to see mirages in that kinda bleak situation? So here’s one from PopSci – The Green Megalopolis of the Future. Too good to be true, this city promises to be the most comprehensive model of a futuristic city which utilizes green technologies. This conceptual city offers a variety of uber green solutions to architecture, energy and transportation.
The green buildings will have integrated solar panel exterior walls, enabling them to produce almost enough power to run themselves without the grid. These walls would also channel rain water into collection basins where it would be treated and put into good use. An innovative idea about giant salt-filled ‘pillows’ over the building takes care of the heating and cooling part…bidding bye-bye to air-conditioners and heaters.
To power the whole green dream land, Maglev wind turbines, each producing power for 800,000 homes, would be running just outside the city, powering buildings and charging electric transport. Tidal and wave power systems would be installed in areas where water was in abundance, increasing the reliability of the alternative energy grid. Paint-based solar cells plastered on every surface will provide electricity in areas that would otherwise be unsuitable for solar panels or other technologies designed to harness solar energy. What caught my attention is the foot step powered energy lighting up nearly 6,500 LED lights for a train station!
Finally when you need to move about in this eco-friendly fairy-land, you can avail the service of a solar powered Pod Car, a small two-seater vehicle which would be found at major hubs around the city, and stored almost like shopping carts. These will also pump electricity into the grid when charged and docked. Automatic buses, computer-controlled and fueled with biodiesel and electricity, would ply the city streets along pre-set routes, reducing congestion, waiting times, and ground-level pollution, moving a greater number of people efficiently. A maglev Skytran, an overhead mono-rail of sorts, could carry nearly 15,000 passengers per hour, delivering them to popular destinations in the city at 150mph and at 1/10th the cost of light-rail.
Mama, why did you bring me into this world so soon? God, you could have waited for the Green Megalopolis to materialize!
Via Ecolectic
