Introduction to Engineering Model The Walden Three Project proves sustainable cities with a luxurious life for all are possible today! Overview of Phase I: Energy-Mass Flow Model (Word document) Phase 1 Flow Chart 1 (Word Document) We have researched the most cost effective technology widely available now to produce the highest quality necessities for citizens in a sustainable city. Available for download here is an initial energy-mass analysis, starting with an arbitrary initial population of 100,000 people. This is an ideal model with gaps and assumptions. It is open to everyone, free (open source), so it can be modified and corrected to suit specific realities, needs, or preferences. Nothing on this site is copyrighted, though we do appreciate being given credit for producing it. If you make changes and publish it, please inform others of your changes. We actively seek corrections, expansions, refinements, and suggestions. Existing housing units, municipalities, counties, states, and countries can adapt this model to their realities and play “what if?” Population, square footage of living and work areas, efficiency of solar cells or other processes, and a myriad number of other factors can be individually adjusted to evaluate how production, consumption, requirements, and outputs are affected. For example, you can increase solar panel efficiency to match the cells or location you desire. You can increase or decrease the number of inhabitants. You can change the relationship between recycled materials versus newly produced goods. In our idealized model, particular attention was paid to choosing the most efficient labor, energy, and material production methods. Glass bottles were chosen over plastic because of their lower recycling costs due to multi-use compared. The cities’ waste that cannot be recycled is converted into usable fuel: Organic waste is processed into methane. Fuel waste is turned into synthesis fuel gas (syngas), and non-fuel waste is redirected back to the gasification system. The city produces its own cement, aluminum, silicon, and other materials needed for necessities as well as the components of many luxuries. The city uses a minimum of fossil fuel to power its industrial plants, cascading from one to another, which finally powers the electric plant. Solar cells are used as well; with the surplus energy fed back into the country’s electric grid. This model shows how planning and creating sustainable cities is possible today, rather than decades or centuries from now. |