[sterlingman]

It has been brought up numerous times that most solutions proposed to address Peak Oil are inadequate for various reasons and/or are not comprehensive enough to resolve related problems stemming directly from Peak Oil or our civilizations reliance upon fossil fuels.

The problems cited, in regards to the latter, are:

Energy Production
Global Warming
Water Mismanagement/Pollution
Farmland Erosion and Exhaustion
Desertification
Food Shortages
Land Pollution
Deforestation
Mineral Depletion
Fossil Fuel Depletion

This, however, is in no way a comprehensive list. Just some of the more commonly cited problems.

Let me trend again then where others have failed – but hopefully this time, succeed in presenting a solution that overcomes other solutions’ limitations.

Briefly, I propose that arg-eco industrial parks be built in major inner cities that are in decline. A more detailed description of my proposal is at www.sinceslicedbread.com/idea/2235 . The parks needn’t be built just in declining inner cities, however, but can be built in any fairly large city.

The three essential facilities of every park will be: a double convection tower, vertical aquaponic farms and a reclamation center. These, of course, will not be the only facilities, just the most important.

A double convection tower will be the power plant for the park and surrounding city. (If enough towers are built, they could supply power for an entire city.) The tower operates basically by creating a continuous airflow through it resulting in a renewable source of power. In the process of generating power, it cleans the air of pollutants as well as CO2. The tower will be capable of operating in any environment – day and night. The only outputs of the tower will be clean renewable power, clean air and a stream of CO2. (Others have suggested that CO2 be sequestered which I’m in agreement with but where or how it is stored is where I differ. I will address this issue again later on.)

The towers can resolve the first two problems in the above list. Increased energy demands in develop countries can be meet by the towers. Also, in time, they could replace fossil-fueled power plants that have reached the end of their useful operational lives. The towers can also meet the electrification needs of developing countries. Notably, without any fuel costs, the price of power generated by the towers will remain steady for decades to come thus contributing to economic growth.

The most critical advantage of the tower, however, will be in its ability to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. If enough are built, it may be possible to stop and reduce the buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere. If global warming is indeed due entirely to the addition of CO2 to the atmosphere, this, in itself, should prevent it.

The next facilities in the industrial parks will be vertical aquaponic farms. Both crops and seafood will be cultivated in vertical high-rises. Sewage directed to the farms from the city will be broken down into its nutritive components and sterilized then used to fertilize the farms. (Wastes from the seafood operations will be similarly treated.) A by-product of this process is pure water, which will also be utilized in the operation. Any excess water could be sent back to the city, out to surrounding farms (either orchards or feedlots) or simply discharged. The vertical farms will enjoy a high level of productivity given that crops can be grown year-round, harvested with very little waste and protected from damage or lose due to weather.

Contrast this with today’s farming methods. Farming, as practiced the world over, is very dependent upon the weather. Any number of natural calamities can ruin a farmer’s crops. What doesn’t bode well for farmers in the future is the prediction by some that as global warming progresses, destructive weather conditions will increase. Not only that, but farming methods in themselves are eroding and exhausting the land, expanding desertification, polluting waterways and leaving a substantial portion of the harvest in the fields. All of this combined with a continual expansion of the population and the outlook for food production indicates a serious shortfall will occur in the near future.

The advantages of the vertical farms can compensate for future shortfalls and possibly may come to be the “method” of farming in the future.

The final essential facility in the parks will be a reclamation center. Primary purpose of reclamation center will be to extract through various industrial processes valuable components from the residues of the farms. It also will recycle and dispose of discarded items, i.e., trash. Items ultimately disposed of will be destroyed via a plasma furnace.

Some products that can be manufactured from the components of the residues from the farms are; textiles, paper, paints, biofuels (cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel) wood substitutes, bioplastics, lignin (similar in nature to coal), fertilizers, animal feed, …, etc. In regards to lignin, it can be used as a fuel. Gasification of it can produce power and ash. The ash can be used to form concrete. (In fact, a much better concrete than traditional mixtures.) Also, a process called ceramic sequestering utilitizes supercritical CO2 to rapidly cure concrete making it substantially stronger than untreated concrete. This is mentioned because the process “locks” or sequesters the CO2 in the concrete. This is how the CO2 captured by the tower will be stored. So, one can see that the remaining problems on the list can be resolved by the reclamation centers.

The arg-eco industrial parks are a strategy to resolve the effects of Peak Oil, resource depletion and environmental degradation in the long-term. Unfortunately, some of the technologies that will make it work are in their infancy now. Also, even when they have matured, it will take decades to widely deploy them. This is why it’s imperative that the effects of Peak Oil be delayed if at all possible. I’ve written another post on just that subject titled:

US Avoids PO & keeps its economy …. (by Atolls)

http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic15867.html

[Heineken]

Craziest thing I've read in some time.

[MonteQuest]

This, however, is in no way a comprehensive list. Just some of the more commonly cited problems.

You forgot the most important: population growth.

[JustinFrankl]

In the issue of population, this design ends up enabling us to keep growing. And this is only a solution for the US, what about the rest of the world? This is an enormous reworking of any given city's infrastructure, let alone the whole country, where will that energy come from? What area of the economy do you want to cannibalize or retrain for the human resources necessary for this endeavor?

And I'm sorry, but much of this model seems to contain the idea that you are going to get more energy and useful work out of the model than you put into it, in particular, I don't understand where the energy comes from to fire the "plasma furnace".

This idea doesn't seem workable. But that you are attempting solutions and posting them for consideration is commendable. Please keep it up, as long as you can handle the harsh criticism that will come forth.

[Heineken]

I agree. The scheme is what's crazy, not necessarily the poster, who is clearly earnest and well-meaning. Sorry if I was harsh; I admit I've lost patience with these proposals of massive, jury-rigged, clearly unworkable growth engines that look like something out of Road Warrior. When what we need to be investing our brainpower and dwindling energy in is rationally reorganizing and, especially, scaling down our civilization and preserving what's left of the biosphere.

[BlueGhost]

How much energy do you get out of a convection tower?
I thought I read about someone planning on building a giant one in Australia but the article didn't seem to think it would be profitable just educational.. I suppose with rising energy costs it could become profitable? But how many would you need to power a city?

[sterlingman]

This, however, is in no way a comprehensive list. Just some of the more commonly cited problems.

You forgot the most important: population growth.

Actually, I didn't forget population growth. The listed problems can be addressed directly by my proposed strategy, population growth can't. It will, however, be affected indirectly. Indirectly, the strategy remedies overpopulation by raising standards of living. The specific processes are not entirely discernible, but there seems to be a correlation between improved standards of living and declining birth rates. Most of the developed countries in the world are experiencing declining birth rates.

Conversely, the underdeveloped countries for the most part have high birth rates. Improved standards of living might not have a direct causal link to declining birth rates, but it seems to be an indicator and a contributing factor. Before the preceding occurs, however, worldwide deployment of strategy will be uneven due to either political and/or economic reasons in a number of countries. The effects of Peak Oil and global warming in such countries could potentially decimate the populace.

[pedalling_faster]

i would like to see your concept developed (more thoroughly communicated.)

can you draw it & provide more details ?

can you build small scale versions of what you're suggesting ?

i say "go for it" ... don't wait for approval from people who may not have your inspiration & your background.