15th July 2011 Masdar - City Of The Future

At some 17 kilometres from Abu Dhabi, in the desert of the United Arab Emirates, an innovative project has been for sometime in full progress, at the cost of 18,000 million dollars, building this first city in the world with zero carbon waste nor leak.

It's called Masdar city, a residential city of the next generation, that will obtain the energy it needs from renewable sources, like solar energy. All vehicles are prohibited, so the residents will have to move around only in magnetic vehicles without drivers. Some enormous receptors of solar energy will collect the sunlight to generate energy and there will be mirrors installed strategically, concentrating the sunlight to heat water and generate electricity. Practically all the resources are recyclable.
 

This project was born in 2006 and it's first phase has been completed, with several hundreds of volunteers testing out the city. A 45 metre high skyscraper of Teflon (fluorinated resins and protective coating) situated in the centre of the city shows the inhabitants their consumption of energy, red light come on when they have consumed too much. It will be populated by residents and visitors when it's totally completed in 2015.

The central offices of the city will cost 800 million dollars and will be completed in 2013. It will be the 1st ever building in the history that will produce more energy than it consumes. It will be the headquarters of the International Agency for Renewable Energy.
 

Masdar City is the work of the companies Abu Dhabi Future Energy and the design is of Foster & Partners and Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill.

I found the following photo in a special magazine for future city projects. It looks almost too clean and clinical, but impressive; even though somewhat aseptic by the dull and draped penguin-like figures only dotted here and there; looking more like a religious or health institute.

Tags: masdarcity

Prev: 15th July 2011 Things To Think About ...

15th July 2011 Things To Think About ...

1&1 Dual Hosting ~

Imagine that there's a total bread-down of Internet in your server. But your page online continues functioning entirely unaffected. Impossible? Not if you work with the new Dual Hosting 1&1.

The Geo-Redundancia is the latest web security with which your web page exist simultaneously, in parallel, housed in 2 data centres situated in different locations. If one of them fails unexpectedly, your web continues functioning in the other, automatically without losing a single data; if fact you wouldn't even realize that there had been a crash.

It's the first ISP in the world to offer the double security by Geo-Redundancia.

www.1and1.es €19.99 monthly.

Automatic heating without fire ~

This is not news because it has existed a long time. But only now my question about it just popped out from nowhere.

Wilhelm Espenhayn and Rriedrich Oswald Hunger patented in 1906 (I didn't know it was as early as that though) the automatic or self heating tin of food or drink. The principals of such functioning has hardly changed during more than a century.

There are 2 compartments apart from the space that contains the food or drink. One of them has in it live Cal (Oxide of calcium CaO), and in the other, water. To heat the food you need to break the seal that separates the 2 compartments. When the 2 substances enter in contact, it produces a exothermic reaction that emitting heat. Just 5 minutes is enough to warm up the contents to 40 degree centigrade.

My question is: Why is this not more generally used? How often, and where, do you find tins like that in supermarkets or anywhere else? I do realize every home is equipped with a microwave oven. But for outdoors, quick office lunches, afternoon drink while working, watching an exciting film on TV at late night and you don't wish to leave your settee ... etc.

Tags: dualhosting, selfheating

Prev: 14th July 2011 Giggling Pics