floating

Floating Cities

January 1, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A familiar theme in science fiction is the idea of floating cities – independent, self-sustaining nation-states at sea where start-up societies work to redesign society and government and don’t have to fight over who owns the land. The concept even has a name: seasteading.

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A Floating Wind Farm

September 5, 2017 By EarthWise

Offshore wind farms are becoming increasingly important around the world. Europe has thousands of wind turbines off its coasts generating more and more of its power. The first offshore wind farm in the U.S. opened for business last year and more are on the way.

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The Largest Floating Solar Power Plant

July 17, 2017 By EarthWise

The world’s largest floating solar power plant is now operational and connected to the electric grid in China. It is a 40-megawatt facility and floats in water 13 to 30 feet deep in a lake that was created by a former mining operation.

Floating Wind

December 6, 2016 By EarthWise

Offshore wind power can supply a significant amount of energy to our hungry grid. In many places in Europe, it is doing just that. Here in US, it is just starting to be used in some places in the Northeast, with the first small offshore wind farm coming on line off the coast of Rhode Island.

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Back in June, we talked about The Ocean Cleanup, a Dutch foundation founded in 2013 by an 18-year-old named Boyan Slat, which is developing technologies to rid the oceans of the vast collections of plastic that have been accumulating over the past 50 years.

Floating Solar

August 22, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Installing solar arrays on the surface of bodies of water is an idea that is catching on around the world. Such installations are especially attractive in places like Japan, where land resources are scarce. In the UK, there are a couple of these so-called “floatovoltaic” projects underway – one outside of London and one near Manchester.

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A Floating Wind Farm

May 2, 2016 By WAMC WEB

The world’s first floating wind farm is being built 15 miles off the northeast coast of Scotland. The Hywind pilot park, expected to come online late next year, will generate enough power for 20,000 homes. The location will take advantage of average local North Sea wind speeds in excess of 20 miles per hour.

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Land, Water and Energy

January 28, 2016 By WAMC WEB

The city of Holtville in California is sometimes called the “Carrot Capital of the World.” This agricultural community has signed an agreement with Australian company Infratech to build a floating solar power system for its water treatment plant.