Eco Factor: Self-sustaining city will be powered by solar energy.
Florida Power & Light is planning to spend $350 million to build a 75MW photovoltaic plant, which would power a planned city, Babcock Ranch, near Fort Myers. If developed, Babcock Ranch will be the world’s first city to be powered entirely by solar energy. Costing a whopping $2 billion, the project will be developed by Kitson & Partners.
The city will be wireless-enabled using ultrahigh-capacity “digital pipeline”, which will support the use of the most recent technical innovations. Since the city will be green, its inhabitants will mostly use electric cars, which could be recharged at convenient community-wide recharging stations. Florida Power & Light is estimating that once fully developed, the city would generate excessive solar energy, which would be sold back to the grid for greening neighboring cities as well.
With 6 million square feet of inhabitable space, the city will have about 19,500 homes and about 45,000 residents. Construction on the project could begin later this year if the project is approved by the state regulatory authorities.
The Dark Side:
The overall cost of the project would make it impossible for developing nations to follow the path. However, the city could be a test bed for all ecofriendly technologies being developed presently.
Comments
I hope this becomes a reality. It would be an amazing step and the ultimate test for large scale applications. I just hope they have a back up tie into the national grid in case the sun some how gets blocked for a long enough period of time.