M.Arch.(Environmental Design) Design Thesis 2020
SEASTEADING SUSTAINABLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
MYTHRI MYNENI 18011NB010 Under the Guidance of (Ms. Ar. Harshita Vangara)
Department of Architecture School of Planning & Architecture Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University Mahaveer Marg, Masab tank Hyderabad-028
M.Arch.(Environmental Design) Design Thesis 2020
SEASTEADING SUSTAINABLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
MYTHRI MYNENI 18011NB010 Under the Guidance of (Ms. Ar. Harshita Vangara)
Department of Architecture School of Planning & Architecture Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University Mahaveer Marg, Masab tank Hyderabad-028
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
I certify that the Design Thesis entitled COMMUNITIES this
SEASTEADING - SUSTAINABLE FLOATING
submitted by Mr. / Ms. Mythri myneni bearing H.T.No. 18011NB010 on
___________ day of
____________2020 in partial fulfilment of the requirements for
the award of Degree of MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE (ENVIRONMENTAL DESING)
of this university is a bonafide work to the best of our knowledge and may be placed before the Examination Board for their consideration.
____________________ Thesis Supervisor
____________________ Thesis Coordinator
____________________ Head, Department of Architecture
____________________ External Examiner
____________________ PRINCIPAL
Design Thesis 2020
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
3
AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Ms. Ar. Harshita Vangara for the continuous support of my M.Arch thesis, for her patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. Her guidance helped me in all the time of research. Also, Thanks to our Assistant professor. Ar. M. Bharath.
My deepest thanks, To my parents and family for the spiritual support and guidance and to everyone who have been
instrumental in completion of my thesis.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
4
CONTENTS
1. SYNOPSIS
……………………………………………………...….............. 10 - 12
1.1. Aim
………………………………………………………………….....
1.2. Objectives
…………………………………………………………………..... 10
1.3. Scope
…………………………………………………………………....
1.4. Limitations
..………………………………………………………………….. 11
10
11
1.5. Methodology …………………………………………………………………… 11
2. INTRODUCTION
………………………………………………………………… 13 - 32
2.1. Why is it important to explore the deep sea ? …………………………………...
13
2.2. Earth and its characteristics …………………………………………………... 17 - 23 2.2.1. Earths Anatomy……………………………………………………………
17
2.2.2. History of Earth …………………………………………………………... 18 2.3. History of Oceanography………………………………………………………… 19 2.4. A Deadly deadline ……………………………………………………………….. 20 2.5. Survey of market ………………………………………………...…………… 24 - 33 2.5.1. Quantitative survey of market .…………………………………………… 24 2.5.2. Qualitative survey of market .……………………………………………... 30
3. LITERATURE
…………..…………………………………………………… 33 - 53
3.1. Megauapolis………….…………………………………………………………… 33 3.2. Challenges in the depths…………………………………………………………. 35 3.3.Characteristics of the ocean..…………………………………………………. 36 - 40 3.3.1. Ocean currents …………..…………………………………………………. 36 3.3.2. Predicting the sea waves ..…………………………………………………. 36 3.3.3. Vent pipes…………………………………………………………………... 37 3.3.4. Rise in sea level …………………………………………………………… 38 3.3.5. Salinity and corrosion in Ocean …………………………………………... 40 SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
5
3.4. Natural Calamities of the ocean..……………………………………………… 41 - 47 3.4.1. Earthquakes and Volcanoes…..…………………………………………….
41
3.4.2. Tsunami – the killer waves.…………………………………………………
43
3.4.3. Hurricanes…………………………………………………………………... 45 3.4.4. Rogue waves- the monster …………………………………………………. 47 3.5. Political and functional scenarios of the ocean..…………………..…………… 48 - 53 3.5.1. Exploitation – Global fishing…..……………………………………………. 48 3.5.2. Deep sea mining…………..………………………………………………… 49 3.5.3. Debris in the ocean ..………………………………………………………... 51 3.5.4. Political boundaries and law………………………………………………… 52 4. SEAVILIZATION …………………………………………………………………...… 54 - 58
5. DESKTOP / CASE STUDIES
…………………………………….………………… 59 - 126
5.1. Seasteading Projects in proposal………………………………………..……… 59 - 69 5.1.1. Oceanix city – SFC- The Big………………………………………………. 59
5.1.2. Green float – SHMZ……………………………………………………….. 65 5.1.3. Mermaid 2.0 – JDS ………………………………………………………... 68 5.2. Akin projects………………………………………………………...…............. 70 - 85 5.2.1. Floating homes USA and Amsterdam……………………………………… 70 5.2.2. Sail boats and cruise ships………………………………………………….. 73 5.2.3. Oil platforms……………………………………………………………….. 75 5.2.4. Islands……………………………………………………………………… 77
5.2.5. Land reclamation projects…………………………………………………. 80 5.2.6. Seasteading institute; Future……………………………………………….. 83 5.3. Failed projects/ In Hold………………………………………………............... 85 - 93 5.3.1. Poseidon Undersea Resort ………………………………………………… 85 5.3.2. New Utopia ………………………………………………………………..
87
5.3.3. Spar Buoy ..………………………………………………………………..
89
5.3.4 The Floating City, Seasteading ……………………………………………
90
5.3.5. Triton City ………………..……………………………………………….
91
5.3.6. The Venus Project ……….………………………………………………..
92
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
6
5.4. Extraordinary engineering………………………………………………............ 94 - 109 5.4.1. Shanghai tower - Resists Typhoon…………………………………………… 94 5.4.2. The Big U, NYC - Resists flooding, hurricane……………………………….. 97 5.4.3. Kansai Airport, Japan- earthquake..………………………………………….. 99 5.4.4 Taipei 101 skyscraper - earthquake & typhoon…….………………………… 101
5.4.5. The Palm Island, Dubai - sea waves, wind.………………………………….
104
5.4.6. The Sand Palace of Mexico - Hurricane……………………………………..
106
5.5. Sustainability factors………………………………………………................... 110 - 126 5.5.1. Solar energy production in ocean……………………………………………
110
5.5.2. Wind energy generation in ocean……………………………………………. 113 5.5.3. Tidal and Thermal energy from ocean……………………………………….. 115 5.5.4. Aquaponics cycle, Biofuel…….……………………………………………… 119 5.5.5. Water and waste management.……………………………………………….. 121 5.5.6. Innovations, techniques and technologies……………………………………. 124 6. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA …………………………………... 127 - 128 6.1. Analysis and Inference …………………………………………………................... 127 6.2. Listing Strategies that can be taken into design…………………………………….
128
7. IDENTIFY SITE AND REQUIREMENT……………………………..…………….... 129 - 134 7.1. Various conditions where seasteading is proposed ………………………................. 129 7.2. BRIEF – Kiribati floating houses ……………………..……………………………. 130 7.3. Justification of site…………………………………………………………………..
131
8. SITE ANALYSIS………………………….…………………………..….………….... 135 - 158 8.1. Location and Geography…………………………………………………………….. 135 8.2. History and Sociology ..…………………………………………………................... 136 8.3. Climatic conditions and calamities ..…………………..……………………………. 145 8.4. Environment and ecology ...………………………………………………………… 153 8.5. Economy generation strategies …..………………………………………………..... 155 8.6. Anthropometry and Ergonomics.……………………………………………………. 157 SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
7
9. SIMULATIONS FOR CONCEPT EVOLUTION …………………………………..... 159 - 178 9.1. Form derivation – simulations ………………………..……………………………. 159 9.2. Qualitative Survey of Kiribati and Tarawa…………....…………………………….. 166 9.3. Quantitative Survey of Kiribati and Tarawa ……………………………………….... 173 10. DESIGN GUIDELINES …………………………..…………………………..…..... 179 - 200 10.1. In terms of Seasteading……..………………………..……………………………. 179 10.2. Macro Guidelines – site planning………………………………………………….. 190 10.3. Micro Guidelines – Space planning …………………..………………………….... 191 10.4. Energy Guidelines – to satisfy demand …………………………………………… 192 11. DESIGN …………...…………………………………….......................................... 200 - 210 11.1. Prototype ..…………..…………………………………………………................... 201 11.2. Design for Tarawa…………………………………………….……………………. 206 12. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEBLIOGRAPHY………...………………………...……. 211 - 215
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
8
ABSTRACT
It is from the ocean that will be born the destiny of civilizations to come. ____ Jacques Rougerie, Marine architect
With increase in population and a proportionate increase in demand for food, shelter and fuel, it is adding a burden to the environment and as well as the economy. The immediate solution the comes is to explore other planets for space. However, we forget to realize that 2/3rds of Earth is covered in water , that we are yet to explore. Approximately 71% of Earth’s surface, an area of 361 million sq.km is covered in oceans. It is important that we discover our own planet that is available, before we head to the space and spend trillions.
The solution for ocean pollution, urban crowding, lack of renewable resources and fuel, wars for resources and power, empowerment, a sustainable way of living can be Ocean colonization in the form of seasteading. Seastaeding has also proved to be the safest way of living rather than coastal habitats as per researchers; in facing any natural calamities.
Seavilization always existed since history in various countries , in the form of small tribal settlements or floating cruise ships and oil rigs. Seasteading is a concept where floating societies are built with significant political autonomy, incorporating a sustainable way of living, by inducing environment, economy, and freedom. It is building man made structures in
floating form that can be used permanent or temporary living. This thesis, explores various possibilities of scope of seasteading being the future and bringing it to feasibility through various structural systems, construction techniques to resist possible natural calamities in sea, production of food and fuel and to live in a sustainable manner. To do so, we incorporate urban development ideas, waster water treatment plants, industry and production units, fresh water sources, aquaculture farms, hydroponics and various ways to generate renewable energy from ocean.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
9
1. SYNOPSIS
With the increase in urbanization, we have reasons to occupy the oceans now; called the earth covered in water; certain uncertainties in land expansions and blockage of drainage have been resulting in massive urban flooding. As a solution, the new age development is a way of disconnected development. That is, development of satellite towns in the oceans, being self sustainable. With increase in need of movement throughout the world and yet demand for more luxury and space; we can now propose the floating cities. Also, the present condition of being dependent has increased the effect of present pandemic; demanding the need to be self sustained at isolated to an extent. Considering the above all, future developments should incorporate the ideology of satellite town or nations development in hydrosphere. Fiction/ hypothetical, it is the theory and practice of building structures to allow humans to live permanently or temporarily in areas of earth covered in water. : This project being the present demand and in development stage now, the topic helps to solve world class problems of land usage and helps for the scope of sustainable development.
1 .1 . AIM OF STUDY
It is subjected that by 2050, 90% of world cities will be exposed to rising seas, with the rise in temperature and sea levels. This study aims to solve the issues faced in urbanization, and also a solution for sinking coastal area , and address the demand by designing a prototype for a floating city.
1 .2 . OBJECTIVE OF STUDY 1. To address issues of urbanization – demand for shelter, food and safety. 2. To find solutions for expansion into water avoiding sea level rise sinking. 3. Development of a self sustainable city 4. To understand contribution to emerging technologies 5. To design a prototype that can stand to be a example for many in terms of sustainability. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
10
1 .3 . SCOPE
This study covers designing a floating city / community and addressing technologies and design considerations to make it self sustainable and reliable and stand out as a solution for any future calamities or disturbances. To make it act like a prototype of sustainability. It can be provided with spaces like residential, offices, cultural centres, hospitality buildings, farming lands, fishing crops, energy producing plants ,etc.
1 .4 . LIMITATIONS
1. Still in development stage. Thus, no complete live examples. Should go for part case studies and desktop studies
2. To address structural issues and study the water patterns and calamities 3. Staying in water a long time means sea sickness and a lot of humidity. This should be addressed while designing. A challenge. 4. The legal realities and challenges of attempting a self-sufficient community on the high seas are many, but it is precisely in this grey area of the law of the sea that seasteaders may be able to realize their marketplace of ideas and governments. 5. We cannot to prove its workability before experimentation, even though it is possible. Yet,
it is difficult to clear the mental barrier of people towards water and its fluidity.
1 .5 . METHODOLOGY
Since the concept of seasteading is still hypothetical at this stage, and that no complete form of live examples are present, it is important that we have to study various part desktop studies; through which we can pick inference for functionality, planning and failures occurs,
engineering techniques and sustainability factors.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
11
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
12
2 . INTRODUCTION
Water is life – life on earth is inseparably tied to water. When viewing the development of civilizations, we can see that their advancement was connected with the innovative use of water (Romans – aqueducts, Mesopotamians and Egyptians – utilisation of rivers, East – Asian Civilizations – rice terraces).
Throughout history, human development has taken place in coastal regions. By looking at the habitation of floating islands by ancient people such as Uros in Peru and Bolivia and the ancient swamp settlers in Iraq, we can realize important characteristics for future development : ecologically – related connections and a high degree of self sufficiency. From these cases we can also conclude that floating structures are more effective when they take the form of connected housing systems rather than single settlement structures.
Present improvement in technology and inventions is helping us to adapt to present climatic conditions. But future demand for development and housing will require us to look into floating structures, outside the realm of tourism. Rising sea levels and growing population result in demand for alternative source of living with a higher technological attributes and innovations connected. Developments in Netherlands and South – East Asia are example for it. In future, we will see water as no more a threat but as a new living space with inexhaustible potential.
2.1 . WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO EXPLORE THE DEEP SEA ?
we have seen all the countries driving towards space research and have been spending a lot of resources and finances on it. even though it defined success and the trails of countries, but alas, there were not enough returns for the investment done. when the question arised “Will we ever colonize outer space?” “That depends on the definition of ‘colonize.’ … if the idea is to construct a self-sustaining SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
13
environment where humans can persist indefinitely with only modest help from Earth… then I’d say this is very far in the future, if it’s possible at all…We haven’t bothered to colonize areas underwater on Earth yet. It’s far more challenging to colonize a place where there’s hardly any atmosphere at all.” — Catharine A. Conley, NASA planetary protection office •
Considering a minimum period of seven months stay it is studied that space or any other planet is very depressing due to its unaccommodating conditions. however, the sea can be seen to match the expectations very easily. also, financially costing very less and easy reach for resources.
• Ocean colonies are considered to be much more safer than social issues in many countries or technological issues in the outer space. also, these places can be safe from calamities and warfare's. Atlantic ocean , closer to
the equator have known to be safe as per logistics. • Ocean colonization boosts technology and science. there are many inventions so far that has contributed in making us what we are today. ocean colonization can also prove to be equally profitable for us. This challenge would require us to explore aspects of water pressure, corrosion, calamity resistant , etc. this will require finding new materials,
inventing new technologies opening gates to new scientific solutions and inventions. • 90,000 is the number of people killed in natural disasters every year. Economic costs vary from year to year but have grown in the last ten years. The number of disasters vary from 3 in 1900 to 285 in 2018. the calamities include droughts, floods, extreme weather, extreme
temperature, landslides, dry mass movements, wildfires and volcanic activity and earthquakes. these natural disasters are not dangerous under water or in deep oceans.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
14
Source : maps. Ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/hazads/?layers
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
PG NO: 15
• Ocean is known to be one of the oldest forms of the planet that hasn't been explored. it holds the true form of planet. if this planet can be explored to its full extent, we can study the core and formation and properties of other planets very easily. • Ocean colonization can solve the problem of over population. it is predicted by BBC that the planet capacity is 11 billion people, even though we change our consumptions. the world population now is over 7.3 billion, and it might reach over 11 billion by 2100. Oceans cover 70% of Earth which can be used to increase the habitable area by over 50%. • Seeing the present condition of pandemic and governments having wars and attacking with gas missiles and virus attacks, it demands for individual governance and satellite town or city developments. development in isolation. this also helps in development of self sustainable cities and gives chance to develop a new area with planned sustainable strategies which is very difficult to implement in the already developed countries. • Rather than mining on other planets and getting the content to earth or shifting base to other planets, it is economical and also efficient to build a community on sea or a community underwater; and this can also pay for
itself faster than any community in the space.
It is predicted that by 2050, around 9 billion would be the pollution.
we would be charged with six moral imperatives as ancient as they are urgent:
we would be charged with six technical imperatives and they are :
- feed the hunger - enrich the poor - cure the sick - restore the environment - power civilization sustainably - live in peace
- individual governance - accommodating increased population - growth in isolation - using the available renewable resource - exploring ways to self sustain - creating an architectural prototype
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
16
2.2 . EARTH AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS To understand the oceans behaviour, it is also important to understand its evolution itself as a planet. As per the history , even before life , the oceans were present. It is known to be the richest resource of earth. Unfortunately, it yet remains unexplored and unused, covering 2/3rd of Earth.
2.2 .1. Earth’s Anatomy Crust The crust is the Earth’s thin outer rind. It accounts for 0nly 0.4 percent of the Earth’s mass. The boundary between the crust and the mantle is called the Mohorovicic Discontinuity of MOHO for short.
Upper Mantle The upper mantle is 400 km thick. It is weaker than the rest of the mantle and bends and flows under pressure. Like the lower mantle, the upper mantle is made up of minerals rich in iron, silica, magnesium, and oxygen.
Lower Mantle The solid mantle is 2,500 km thick. It is composed of minerals rich in iron, silica, magnesium, and oxygen. Together, the upper and lower mantle make up two-thirds of the Earth's mass. Outer Core The liquid outer core is about 2,300 km thick. It is contains molten iron and nickel.
Source : https://divediscover.whoi.edu/
Inner Core The solid inner core extends about 1,200 km from the center of the Earth. It is mostly made of solid iron and nickel.
There are two types of crust: 1. The continental crust is 30-70 km thick. It is made of three types of rocks; igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Most of these rocks are made of 60 to 70 percent silica (or quartz). 2. The oceanic crust is only 6km thick. It is composed of layers of igneous rocks that contain 50 to 60 percent silica. These rocks have more iron and magnesium than those in the continental crust. Magma that erupts onto the ocean floor cools quickly, forming pillow lava. Over thousands of years, the remains of shells and microscopic plants and animals rain down, blanketing the deep ocean floor under a layer of sediment. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
17
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
Source: https://divediscover.whoi.edu/
activity is now a dominant force affecting global change.
environments. The process of plate tectonics continues to shape the Earth's continents and oceans and the life they harbour. Human
Species continue to evolve, taking on new forms, splitting into daughter species, or going extinct in the face of ever-changing physical
rotating cloud of dust and gas. The Earth's crust has constantly changed since its formation, as has life since its first appearance.
present. Earth formed as part of the birth of the solar system: what eventually became the solar system initially existed as a large,
The history of Earth covers approximately 4 billion years (4,567,000,000 years), from Earth’s formation out of the solar nebula to the
2.2 .2. History of Earth
18
Source: https://divediscover.whoi.edu/
2.3 . HISTORY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
19
2.4 . A DEADLY DEADLINE Several of the researches have independently cited 2050 as a ‘deadly deadline’.: an approaching pinch point in the supply of several key commodities that humanity needs to survive. What would you do with political freedom, almost limitless energy, and nearly half the Earth’s surface ?
Source : United States Environmental Protection Agency
WATER According to many anaysists and scientists and environmental
professionals, 52% of the worlds population will be exposed to severe water scarcity by 2050, and will risk nearly $63 trillion, or the equivalent of 1.5 times the size of todays entire global economy. FOOD Even if assumed that the agriculture production would increase by 50%, we nee to increase the land space for farmland by 22 million sq.km. (size of North America) Source : MRC agricultural marketing resource center
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
20
OIL The hydrocracking revolution has led to the debate regarding the undiscovered world oil reserves. The “peak oil” point already seems to have occurred, while some say the reserves can become extent by 2050.
LAND 80% of the world’s expanding megacities are sinking on a coast or river plain while sea levels rise. more than 1 million people move to cities each week, and by 2050, about half of the human population will live within 100km of a coast. We can choose to drown or float. we cant predict if this assumption can be realistic. However, we can believe that humanity would solve this problem.
FERTILIZER The soil is running out of phosphate, a crucial ingredient in fertilizer required for farming. the most optimistic estimate for “peak phosphorus”, the point at which we reach the worlds maximum rate of phosphorus production, is 2050. Source : Peak Phosphorus by dana cordell
FISH A group of ecologists from Canada, Panama, Sweden, Britain , USA have predicted that,
at prevailing trends, the world would run out of wild- caught seafood in 2048.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
21
POLITICAL SCENARIO’S AND TEMPORARY MIGRATION It's not just capital spilling into the seas. Hundreds of thousands of desperate people are piling into makeshift boats to escape abusive countries. In 2015 more than a million arrived in Europe by sea. Not "all poor people ca1t swim to prosperous lands, but Koen Olthuis plans“ "to float prosperous lands to poor people. To demonstrate that the rich infrastructure of Holland can be Abated to the poorest people in coastal slums, he is working to transform shipping containers into ""city apps"": floating kitchens, Internet cafes, health centers, garbage collectors, water purification units, and schools.
Source : ECHO Daily Map of 14 November 2019
“Imagine each seastead uses a kite and sea anchor to move in a big circle around the Sargasso Sea once each year. The currents are almost fast enough to do this, so even a slow seastead can probably make it. I am thinking Anguilla, Bermuda, Azores, back to Anguilla. We could time it so that we were in the North-Eastern half of this loop to avoid the hurricane season in the South-West and then in the South-Western half of the loop to avoid the cold
stormy season in the North-Atlantic” _ by Vince Cate
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
22
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
23
2.5. SURVEY OF MARKET 2.5.1. Quantitative survey of market The Seasteading Institute has taken up the challenge to enable more businesses to be commercially viable on the open seas, either on ships, platforms, or other novel designs. We promote aqua farming, mariculture, floating hospitals, medical research, “bluegreen energy” technologies, political asylums, or any other peaceful enterprise. If these ventures succeed and create jobs and thriving communities, seasteads will provide prosperity to a new wave of immigrants.
They have performed survey related to seasteading to understand its practicality and workability in world market. Their aim was to collect data from people with the ability to afford a unit of a particular size, whose needs and desires align with one another and with those expressed in our qualitative interviews. They offered a roughly 30 question survey with our Floating City Project, obtaining data from 1235 people interested in living on a floating city between May 17, 2013 and March 12, 2014; from 67 countries. Source : The seasteading institute – the floating city project Research conducted between March 2013 and March 2014 Willingness to Pay To determine the existence of a viable market, we asked our respondents the following: “What is the MOST you would spend for a unit?” • • • •
$500 to $600 per square foot $700 to $800 per square foot $900 to $1000 per square foot More than $1000 per square foot
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
24
Desired Square Footage “What is the minimum square footage you would want for your unit? • • • • •
Efficiency apartment (300 square feet/30 square meters) 1br, 1bath, kitchen, LR/DR/study area (600 square feet/60 square meters) 2br, 1bath, kitchen, LR/DR/study area (900 square feet/90 square meters) 3br, 2bath, kitchen, LR/DR area (1,200 square feet/120 square meters) Larger
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
25
Desired Location The breakdown of preferred locations was as follows: This criteria was used for the diplomacy component, in which we gave greater positive consideration to potential host nations within preferred regions. Respondents were allowed to pick as many locations as they liked. Warm climates like the Mediterranean
and the Caribbean stand out as most popular, with a surprising number of respondents favouring “Australia or New Zealand,” possibly owing to these countries’ increasing rankings on major indexes of economic freedom.
Reasons to Live on a Seastead Why would you choose to live on a seastead?
Demographics While they did not ask for any truly sensitive information, two months into the survey they added the following questions to give investors and developers a better portrait of our potential customers, and their ability to afford space on a seastead:
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
26
Number of Children Under the Age of 18 775 people, or 83.2% of respondents, said they had no children under the age of 18. Of those with children, 72 had one child, 48 had two children, and 36 had more than two children.
Income Level and Net Worth Total Annual income
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
27
A significant portion of survey respondents were students, which presumably accounts for a significant portion of those who make less than $50,000/year. Monthly Housing Payment
Value of Real Estate Assets
this question was asked as a means of gauging our market’s real value, and to show potential developers that the market exists. It is also a correlated metric for one’s net worth, which they used to determine the validity of the respondents’ separately reported net worth. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
28
A significant portion of survey respondents were students, which presumably accounts for a significant portion of those who make less than $50,000/year. Do You Own a Timeshare?
Do You Own or Rent Your Primary Residence?
Would this be:
How Much Do You Spend on Vacation Annually?
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
29
2.5.2. Qualitative survey of market They conducted 12 qualitative interviews to inform the strategy for moving this project forward, to better understand why potential residents want to live on a seastead, and to find out what they would want the seastead to be like. Interviewees were selected based on their previous expression of serious interest in seasteading and their ability to afford the predicted costs associated with being a resident. The interviews were conducted by Randolph Hencken and took between 30 minutes to an hour each. Q: What are the problems that a seastead would solve for you (as an individual, business, or both)? Or, why would you choose to live on a seastead?
Interviewees tended to express an interest in pioneering something new, living with a community of likeminded people, having security and stability, having business opportunities that aren't overly restricted by arbitrary regulations or regime uncertainty, while still having regulatory stability and personal liberty.
Q: Can you foresee what kind of "deal breakers" would prevent you from purchasing / leasing units on a seastead?
Subjects shared they would be reluctant to participate in a seastead if the group putting it together lacked credibility, or if there was a lack of quality high speed internet, safety or medical care.
Q: Could you describe your ideal seastead? Responses indicated an interest in at least a minimum standard of living, if not a high standard of comforts, reasonable conveniences for traveling, and substantial political autonomy in order to have a minimal government structure.
Q: Would you attempt to operate a business from the seastead? If so, what kind? The subjects in our focus group are predominantly knowledge workers. Accordingly respondents showed interest in business related to consulting, bitcoin, finance, and software. However, we also received answers indicating interest in service sector industries such as running a fitness center, a cafe, and assorted tourism ventures.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
30
Q: How much more likely are you to bring a business to a seastead if there was a company that managed the seastead and allowed you to focus on your business by mostly renting /owning space (as opposed to you having your business own and operate the seastead)? "Yeah, that’s an attractive option. It’s like a landlord for the seastead. I think that would be good training wheels kind of option at first, and then maybe eventually, one might buy one of his own."
Q: Do you have a strong preference about the climate of the seasteads location? The majority (n=8) of the interviewees preferred warmer climates closer to the US for ease of travel (albeit, this focus group was US centric, with only 3 people residing more than half time outside of the US). A small minority (n=2) indicated a preference for cooler climates, or no preference at all (n=2).
Q: How important is proximity to a nearby international airport? What amount of time would be reasonable for you be transported to a nearby port/airport? Answers to this question varied from "Little enough to get emergency medical care" to "3- 4 days." Most wanted to be able to get to an airport within a couple of hours and fly to the United States within a day.
Q: Can you state how much you would pay to live/operate a business on a seastead (down payment, monthly payment, total payment)? What would you expect for that rate in terms of square footage and quality of space? Answers to this question varied from as little as $1,500/month to tens of millions up front for a residence. Most respondents, even those discussing paying higher prices, appeared content with residential units in the 1,000 2,000 square foot range.
Q: Is there a minimum sized community (population) you would want to have on the seastead? Is there a maximum sized community you would want to have? For this question answers ranged from a few people (n=4) to a medium sized town (n=1), in between subjects anticipated starting with 50 to 500 people
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
31
Q: What kinds of architecture would make you want to live there? Most subjects expressed a desire for modern, appealing, attractive architecture, while just a few were comfortable with industrial, bare minimum designs. Open space, sunlight, and access to the water were important to most subjects. - High rise, office building and modern look – metal , glass and cement. - Shared Common central garden and view to ocean - Liveable that isn’t crowded and cramped. Canals like in Venice and Singapore.
- Individual houses, not apartments, open spaces and private space outside. - Less cost in design and material. Modern look Conclusion of survey: This Floating City Project survey set out to establish the feasibility of developing a floating city before the end of the decade. They affirm, based on findings in the main subsections of the report, that:
1. A market for a residential seastead exists, 2. A practical design can be built to match the market's price point, 3. It is likely that the Seasteading Institute can reach a deal with a host nation.
Their conclusions on market demand were reached through a mix of qualitative interviews and quantitative survey data on the prospective customers, mostly comprising members of our extended community. While not all respondents claimed to be able to afford the price point determined through the modular floating city design, the shift in strategy towards locating in protected waters opened up the possibility of living on a seastead for a sizable segment of our audience. Through qualitative analysis, a portrait begins to emerge of a relatively common vision for a small village, with certain physical and legal features which seem to be achievable. Our interviewees expressed a general preference for a managed experience, which would leave them free to manage their own lives or businesses, and conduct pioneering experiments in a stable regulatory environment. Further study will be needed to determine whether the modular concept would be suitable for a particular location, and this can only be confirmed after extensive oceanographic and environmental studies are undertaken. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
32
3 . LITERATURE
3.1 . MEGAUAPOLIS
Imagine a futuristic floating mobile island. Let's call it the Isle of Maersk. The unbeatable
economic strategy is to disassemble into six hundred mobile units, some larger than the Chrysler Building in New York City, or the Burj A1 Arab in Dubai, the third tallest hotel in the world; These spread swiftly over the world's oceans While remaining under one command. While landbased nations are stuck in place like plants, the distributed Isle of Maersk functions like a hive of honeybees trading economic nectar among the immobile nations, enriching the globe incalculably. These six hundred autonomous units are themselves composed of thousands of yet smaller detachable subunits, each the size of small to medium-sized apartments. The largest can be disassembled into up to fifteen thousand subunits. If all Isle of Maersk subunits were placed in a line, they would stretch 11,806 miles, almost halfway around the Earth.
Source : seasteading book by Joe Quirk with Patri Friedman
This isn't the future. It's the present. If all the floating skyscrapers in the world were gathered together in one spot, we'd have a hundred thousand city blocks of a megaquapolis. More than 17 million shipping containers cross the world. On land, architects have already transformed shipping containers into stylish multistory apartment houses. In Amsterdam, Holland, a thousand stacked shipping containers serve as college dorm rooms. Outside Mexico City, a colorful shipping container community features businesses, restaurants, bars, and art galleries. Most sensational of all, the company Kasista has outfitted shipping containers with all the amenities of an apartment and designed them to slide into larger apartment house skeletons in cities.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
33
When the resident wants to move, she taps an app, where upon a truck picks up her apartment and moves it to her chosen location. By providing mobility and fluid choice among locations in ten cities, Kasista plans to halve the rent market for studios.
Why are people living in mobile shipping containers only on land? The largest assembly lines in the world serve cargo ships, which are built in a modular fashion to accommodate the bewildering array of goods they must transport. Each cargo ship must be assembled like a three-dimensional puzzle piece before it is launched. The infrastructure to endlessly reconfigure the interior space of cargo ships can be adapted to provide for modular living quarters. If we could combine cruise ship luxury with cargo ship modularity, we'd have plug-and-play apartments.
Source : seasteading book by Joe Quirk with Patri Friedman
Civilization is presently spilling into the seas. In Amsterdam it takes only four months to build a floating house in a coastal factory called ABC Arkenbouw and slide it into the water, where it can be towed to where it is needed. In that waterlogged land, floating mobile houses are cheaper to build than land-based static houses. They don't require driving piles thirty-field feet into the soft swampy ground, like the raised houses in New Orleans, and owners don't have to correct for slowly sloping floors as houses settle unevenly after a decade or two. The economics Of sustainability have driven the Dutch to create a coastal assembly line to produce floating houses. "It is much more a gateway to freedom than it is just a place to live, "Koen Olthuis, Dutch founder Of Waterstudio, told the New York Times. "These people living here are pioneers; they are willing to take a risk, they are willing to try stuff out. They all have a very strong feeling of freedom."
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
34
Source : seasteading book by Joe Quirk with Patri Friedman
3.2 . CHALLENGES IN THE DEPTHS
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
35
3.3 . CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OCEAN 3.3.1. Ocean currents
Ocean currents act much like a conveyor belt, transporting warm water and precipitation from the equator toward the poles and cold water from the poles back to the tropics. Thus, ocean currents regulate global climate, helping to counteract the uneven distribution of solar radiation reaching Earth's surface.
There are two main types of ocean currents: currents driven mainly by wind and currents mainly driven by density differences. Density depends on temperature and salinity of the water. Cold and salty water is dense and will sink. Warm and less salty water will float. Ocean water is constantly evaporating, increasing the temperature and humidity of the surrounding air to form rain and storms that are then carried by trade winds.
Major current systems typically flow clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counter clockwise in the southern hemisphere, in circular patterns that often trace the coastlines.
Source : ocean surface current : PhysicalGeography.net
3.3.2. Predicting the sea waves Waves are most commonly caused by wind. Wind- driven waves, or surface waves, are created by the friction between wind and surface water. As wind blows across the surface of the ocean or a lake, the continual disturbance creates a wave crest. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
36
More potentially hazardous waves can be caused by severe weather, like a hurricane, storms.
Much more hazardous waves are due to calamities like earthquake, volcanoes, landslides, etc called the Tsunami. The gravitational pull of the sun and moon on the earth also causes waves. These waves are tides or, in other words, tidal waves. Although tides are generally a dominant driver of water motion in shallow coastal waters, their relative importance in the oceans is less.
Source : Tantrum - How are waves formed ?
Wind waves have a certain amount of randomness: subsequent waves differ in height, duration, and shape with limited predictability. They can be described as a stochastic process. The wave velocity (celerity) equals the wave length divided by the wave period. Sea reports
give the significant wave height. This is calculated from the height of all the waves during a 20 minute period. The significant wave height is the average height of the highest third of these waves.
Source : Aviso – Satellite Altimetry Data
Source : Study of the Durban Bight shoreline evolution by Christo Rautenbach
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
37
3.3.3. Vent pipes A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seafloor from which geothermally heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at spreading centers, ocean basins, and hotspots. Hydrothermal deposits are rocks and mineral ore deposits formed by the action of hydrothermal vents.
Hydrothermal vents exist because the earth is both geologically active and has large amounts of water on its surface and within its crust. Under the sea, hydrothermal vents may form features called black smokers or white smokers. Some hydrothermal vents form roughly cylindrical chimney structures. These form from minerals that are dissolved in the vent fluid. When the superheated water contacts the near-freezing sea water, the minerals precipitate which add to the height of the stacks. Some of these chimney structures can reach heights of 60 m.
Source : National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Source : Distribution of hydrothermal vents, Rogers et al. (2012)
Hydrothermal vents can also have acid and chemicals that would usually be harmful to
animals. The basis for the living things around the vents is a certain kind of bacteria that uses these chemicals. The bacteria can capture energy from the chemical processes that go on around these vents.
3.3.4. Rise in sea level The two major causes of global sea level rise are thermal expansion caused by warming of the
ocean (since water expands as it warms) and increased melting of land-based ice, such as glaciers and ice sheets. The oceans are absorbing more than 90 percent of the increased atmospheric heat associated with emissions from human activity. Sea level rise at specific locations may be more or less than the global average due to local factors such as land subsidence from natural processes and withdrawal of groundwater and fossil fuels, changes in regional ocean currents, and whether SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
38
the land is still rebounding from the compressive weight of Ice Age glaciers. Rising seas is one of those climate change effects. Average sea levels have swelled over 8 inches (about 23 cm) since 1880, with about three of those inches gained in the last 25 years. Every year, the sea rises another .13 inches (3.2 mm).
Source: The Glacier Photograph Collection
Source : https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/noaa-nuisance
Source : Historical sea level reconstruction and projections up to 2100 published in January 2017
In urban settings, rising seas threaten infrastructure necessary for local jobs and regional industries. Roads, bridges, subways, water supplies, oil and gas wells, power plants, sewage treatment plants, landfills—virtually all human infrastructure—is at risk from sea level rise. In 2014 The Nature Conservancy released a report called ‘Coasts at Risk’. The report identified that some countries were more exposed to the hazards of sea level rise than others, as shown in the map below. Currently around
2% of the world’s land area is in a low-lying coastal area, but it is home to more than 600 million people. Vulnerable countries are Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, India, and Indonesia less likely to be able
to adapt with infrastructure SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
39
3.3.5. Salinity and corrosion in Ocean Conceptually the salinity is the quantity of dissolved salt content of the water. Salts are compounds like sodium chloride, magnesium sulphate, potassium nitrate, and sodium bicarbonate which dissolve into ions. Seawater typically has a mass salinity of around 35 g/kg, although lower values are typical near coasts where rivers enter the ocean. Rivers and lakes can have salinities, from less than 0.01 g/kg to a few g/kg. The Dead Sea has a salinity of more than 200 g/kg. Rainwater before touching the ground typically has a TDS of 20 mg/L or less. Salinity influencing the types of organisms that live in a body of water. A plant adapted to saline conditions is called a halophyte. The degree of salinity in oceans is a driver of the world's ocean circulation, where density changes due to both salinity changes and temperature changes at the surface of the ocean produce changes in buoyancy, which cause the sinking and rising of water masses. In most species, egg fertilization and incubation, yolk sac resorption, early embryogenesis, swim bladder inflation, larval growth are dependent on salinity.
Source : Sea surface salinity (psu) WOA09 sea-surf SAL AYool.png
Desalination is a process that removes dissolved minerals (including but not limited to salt) from seawater, brackish water, or treated wastewater. Sea life can get sucked into desalination plants, killing small ocean creatures. Pumping this super salty water back into the ocean can harm local aquatic life. The corrosion rate in seawater is a function of a large number of mutually dependent factors.
Corrosivity of natural water increases proportionally with salinity. The higher the salinity is, the lower the oxygen solubility is (Weiss 1970). Thus, above 3 % salinity, the corrosion rate in seawater decreases. There are several copper-nickel alloys suitable for marine applications. Examples include C70600, C71500, C70600 SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
40
3.4 . NATURAL CALAMITIES OF THE OCEAN 3.4.1. Earthquakes and Volcanoes 250 Million years ago, there was a single gigantic continent called Pangea. Seafloor spreading occurs at divergent boundaries where plates split from each other, as mid- ocean ridges do. The youngest oceanic crust is depicted with light blues and the crusts get increasingly older and denser (darker blues) as they move away from these points and are pushed underneath neighbouring plates in subduction zones
Source : https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/
Source : https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/
Plates Separate The Mid-Ocean Ridge and rift valleys, such as the one that runs through eastern Africa, occur along boundaries where plates are spreading apart. New oceanic crust is created as the plates separate and molten rock rises up from the mantle and fills the space. The earthquakes, volcanic eruptions along the Mid-Ocean Ridges are a result of this process.
Plates Collide When two plates carrying continents collide, the continental crust buckles and rocks pile up, creating towering mountain ranges. The Himalayas were born when the Indian subcontinent smashed into Asia 45 million years ago. The Himalayas are still rising today as the 2 plates continue to collide. The Appalachian and Alps also formed in this way.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
41
Plates Subduct When an ocean plate collides with another ocean plate or with a plate carrying continents, one plate will bend and slide under the other. This process is called subduction. A deep ocean trench forms at this subduction boundary. As the subducting plate plunges deep into the mantle, it gets so hot it melts the surrounding rock. The molten rock rises through the crust and erupts at the surface of the overriding plate. The result is either a volcanic mountain range such as the Cascades and Andes, or chains of islands such as Japan. Plates Slide Past One Another Plates grinding past each other in opposite directions create faults called transform faults. Powerful earthquakes often strike along these boundaries. The San Andreas Fault is a transform plate boundary that separates the North American Plate from the Pacific Plate. This fault system is largely responsible for the devastating earthquakes in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Source : https://maps.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/hazards/?layers=0
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
42
3.4.2. Tsunami – the killer waves A tsunami is a series of great sea waves caused by an underwater earthquake, landslide, or volcanic eruption. More rarely, a tsunami can be generated by a giant meteor impact with the ocean. Within hours killer waves radiating from the epicentre slammed into the coastline of 11 Indian Ocean countries, snatching people out to sea, drowning others in their homes or on beaches, and demolishing property from Africa to Thailand. Tsunamis have been relatively rare in the Indian Ocean. They are most prevalent in the Pacific. But every ocean has generated the scourges. Many countries are at risk.
Source : tsunami risk zones; News18.com
Tsunami waves can be very long (as much as 60 miles, or 100 km) and be as far as one hour apart. They are able to cross entire oceans without great loss of energy. The Indian Ocean tsunami travelled as much as 3,000 miles (nearly 5,000 km) to Africa, arriving with sufficient force to kill people and destroy property. When the ocean is deep tsunamis can travel unnoticed on the surface at speeds up to 500 miles per hour (800 km per hour), crossing the entire ocean in a day or less. Scientists are able to calculate arrival times of tsunamis in different parts of the world based on their knowledge of when the
event that generated them occurred, water depths, and distances.
A tsunami may be less than a foot (30 cm) in height on the surface of the open ocean, which is why they are not noticed by sailors. But the powerful shock wave of energy travels rapidly through the ocean as fast as a commercial jet. Once a tsunami reaches shallow water near the coast it is slowed down. The top of the wave moves faster than the bottom, causing the sea to rise dramatically. on shore they can go up to or more than 30m or be as small as 3m. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
43
Tsunami waves increase in height on reaching the shore
Tsunami waves before reaching the shore
An earthquake can trigger killer waves thousands of miles across the ocean many hours after the event generated a tsunami. Experts believe that a receding ocean may give people as much as five minutes' warning to evacuate the area.
NOAA advises that since tsunami wave activity is imperceptible in the open ocean, vessels should not return to port if they are at sea and a tsunami warning has been issued for the area. Tsunamis can cause rapid changes in water level and unpredictable, dangerous currents in harbours and ports. Boat owners may want to take their vessels out to sea if there is time and they are allowed to do so by port authorities. People should not stay on their boats moored in harbours. Tsunamis often destroy boats and leave them wrecked above the normal waterline.
Source : https://maps.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/hazards/?layers=0
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
44
Source : https://maps.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/hazards/?layers=0
3.4.3. Hurricanes Hurricanes, known generically as tropical cyclones, are low-pressure systems with organized thunderstorm activity that form over tropical or subtropical waters. They gain their energy from warm ocean waters. Tropical cyclones typically form over large bodies of relatively warm water. They derive their energy through the evaporation of water from the ocean surface, which ultimately recondenses into clouds and rain when moist air rises and cools to saturation. This energy source differs from that of mid-latitude cyclonic storms, such as nor'easters and European windstorms, which are fuelled primarily by horizontal temperature contrasts. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
45
Source : Ms. Nickel's LEC Earth Science Blog
These storms are typically strongest when over or near water, and weaken quite rapidly over land. Coastal damage may be caused by strong winds and rain, high waves (due to winds), storm surges (due to wind and severe pressure changes), and the potential of spawning tornadoes. Tropical cyclones also draw in air from a large area—which can be a vast area for the most severe cyclones—and concentrate that air's water content (made up from atmospheric moisture and moisture evaporated from water) into precipitation over a much smaller area. This continual replacement of moisture-bearing air by new moisture-bearing air after its moisture has fallen as rain, may cause multi-hour or multi-day extremely heavy rain up to 40 km (25 mi) from the coastline, far beyond the amount of water that the local atmosphere holds at any one time. This in turn can lead to river flooding, overland flooding, and a general overwhelming of local man-made water control structures across a large area.
Though their effects on human populations are often devastating, tropical cyclones can relieve drought conditions. They also carry heat energy away from the tropics and transport it toward
temperate latitudes, which may play an important role in modulating regional and global climate.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
46
3.4.4. Rogue waves – The monster Rogue waves (also known as freak waves, monster waves, episodic waves, killer waves, extreme waves, and abnormal waves) are unusually large, unexpected and suddenly appearing surface waves that can be extremely dangerous, even to large ships. Rogue waves present considerable danger for several reasons: they are rare, are unpredictable, may appear suddenly or without warning, and can impact with tremendous force. A 12-metre (39 ft) wave in the usual "linear" wave model would have a breaking pressure of 6 metric tons per square metre [t/m2] (59 kPa; 8.5 psi). Although modern ships are designed to tolerate a breaking wave of 15 t/m2 (150 kPa; 21 psi), a rogue wave can dwarf both of these figures with a breaking pressure of 100 t/m2 (0.98 MPa; 140 psi)
The basic underlying physics that makes phenomena such as rogue waves possible is that different waves can travel at different speeds, and so they can "pile up" in certain circumstances, known as "constructive interference". SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
47
Source : Ms. Nickel's LEC Earth Science Blog by irina Nikolkina
The Draupner wave, a single giant wave measured on New Year's Day 1995, finally confirmed the existence of freak waves, which had previously been considered near-mythical.
3.5 . POLITICAL AND FUNCTIONAL SCENARIOS OF THE OCEAN 3.5.1. Exploitation – Global Fishing Fishing is one of the most significant drivers of declines in ocean wildlife populations. Catching fish is not inherently bad for the ocean, except for when vessels catch fish faster than stocks can replenish, something called overfishing. The number of overfished stocks globally has tripled in half a century and today fully one-third of the world's assessed fisheries are currently pushed beyond their biological limits.
Source: Threats to coral reef - https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral-overfishing.html
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
48
Overfishing is closely tied to bycatch—the capture of unwanted sea life while fishing for a different species. This, too, is a serious marine threat that causes the needless loss of billions of fish, along with hundreds of thousands of sea turtles and cetaceans. The damage done by overfishing goes beyond the marine environment. Billions of people rely on fish for protein. WWF works with a cross-section of stakeholders to reform fisheries management globally, focusing on sustainable practices that not only conserve ecosystems
Dead zones are hypoxic (low-oxygen) areas in the world's oceans and large lakes, which causes these bodies of water to fail to support the marine life living there. Historically, many of these sites were naturally occurring. source : aquahoy, global patterns in total fisheries catches from over more than 50 years as seen in three example stanzas.
3.5.2. Deep Sea mining Deep sea mining is a mineral retrieval process that takes place on the ocean floor. Ocean mining
sites are usually around large areas of polymetallic nodules or active and extinct hydrothermal vents at 1,400 to 3,700 metres (4,600 to 12,100 ft) below the ocean’s surface.
Mining on the ocean floor could do irreversible damage to deep sea ecosystems, says a new study of seabed mining proposals around the world. The deep sea (depths below 200m) covers about half of the Earth’s surface and is home to a vast range of species. Environmental risks and impacts of deep sea mining would be enormous and unavoidable, including seabed habitat
degradation over vast ocean areas, species extinctions, reduced habitat complexity, slow and
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
49
uncertain recovery, suspended sediment plumes, toxic plumes from surface ore dewatering, pelagic ecosystem impacts, undersea noise, ore and oil spills in transport, and more.
Source : Deep sea mining - https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/deep-sea-mining
Map depicting the age of the sea bed. The edges of the tectonic plates are the youngest shown in red and the blues are the oldest, shown in dark blue (having more mineral reserves).
Map depicting the mineral reserves of metal, cobalt, sulphides. These reserves have been undergoing mining since 1860’s and has become weak.
Source : china dialogue oceanChina’s deep-sea mining, a view from the top
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
50
3.5.3. Debris in the ocean Interactions between marine organisms and persistent litter were first recorded in the scientific literature in the late 1960s. Marine debris is defined as any persistent solid material that is manufactured or processed and directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, disposed of or abandoned into the marine environment or the Great Lakes. Floating oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing aground Today, there is no place on Earth immune to this problem. A majority of the trash and debris that covers our beaches comes from storm drains and sewers, as well as from shoreline and recreational activities such as picnicking and beach going. Abandoned or discarded fishing gear is also a major problem because this trash can entangle, injure, maim, and drown marine
wildlife and damage property.
Source : River plastic emissions to the world’s oceans; nature communications
Source : The great north pacific garbage patch, National Geographic
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
51
Cigarette butts continue to rank among the most common types of marine debris found. The Ocean Conservancy's 2018 International Coastal Clean-up Report stated that 2,412,151 cigarette butts were collected worldwide in 2017.
Trash Travels estimates that plastic bags can take 20 years to decompose, plastic bottles up to 450 years, and fishing line, 600 years; but in fact, no one really knows how long plastics will remain in the ocean. With exposure to UV rays and the ocean environment, plastic breaks down
into smaller and smaller fragments. In addition to degrading the habitats and ecosystem services that humans use, plastic aquatic debris can directly interfere with navigation, impede commercial and recreational fishing, threaten health and safety, and reduce tourism. A complete clean-up of a gyre is unrealistic, but calculations show we can clean up 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch five years from full -scale deployment of our systems.
3.5.4. Political boundaries and Law The baseline : the low-water line along the coast and close to the shore Internal waters: Waters landward of the baseline; the state has complete sovereignty: not even innocent passage
is allowed without explicit permission from said state. Source: A Global Ban on Fishing on the High Seas? The Time Is Now by Richard Schiffman
Source : Physical boundaries, law of sea , Tim Scharks Green River College
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
52
Territorial sea: is a belt 12 nm from the baseline. It is the sovereign territory of the state; foreign
ships (military and civilian) are allowed innocent passage through it, or transit passage for straits The contiguous zone: is a band extending farther from the outer edge of the territorial sea to up to 24nm from the baseline. Here, state can exert limited control for the purpose of preventing or punishing "infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea". exclusive economic zone extends from the baseline to a maximum of 200 nm .Has control of all economic resources within its exclusive economic zone, including fishing, mining, oil
exploration, and any pollution of those resources. However, it cannot prohibit passage or loitering above, on, or under the surface of the sea. International waters (high seas) do not belong to any State's jurisdiction, known under the doctrine of 'Mare liberum'. States have the right to fishing, navigation, overflight, laying cables and pipelines, as well as scientific research. The continental shelf of a coastal nation extends out to the outer edge of the continental margin. Coastal states have the right of exploration and exploitation of the seabed and the natural resources that lie on or beneath it, however other states may lay cables and pipelines if they are authorised by the coastal state. The outer limit of a country's continental shelf shall not stretch beyond 350 nautical miles (650 km; 400 mi) of the baseline.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
53
4 . SEAVILIZATION
Swamp settlement, Marsh Arabs/Iran
Uros Lake, Peru FLOATING VILLAGE, VIETNAM
Source : Floating Village Cua Van: Promoting Climate-adaptive Ecotourism with Principles of Living Spaces, nguyen thi thu trang
Site Planning
Asia is historically renowned for its local original principles of floating houses with a floating community which is called floating village. The village community has been the basic administrative unit, in Vietnam for a long time. User group It is a group of fishers and their families who permanently live on their fishing boats or their floating houses. Reason
There is a lack of both dwelling houses on land and farmland which forces the fishers and their families to live on rivers or in estuaries or coastal lagoons. In a water- based hamlet, people with the same family name always use the same fishing gear and gather together to form a hamlet, a traditional, small and self-managed community. Structural Some five or more family floating houses are always moored together and linked together by footbridges. Residents greatly respect neighbourhood relationships, because they live in natural
environment that combines both abundant resources and numerous challenges. All the rivers and waterways are more characteristics for their local floating markets even if more conventional markets halls or market streets offer essential sales and shopping venues for the people who live on the water. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
54
Floating village, Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
Planning of Vietnam floating village
Floating market, Cai Rang, Can Tho, Vietnam Housing types Houses are divided into 2 types : one is used for living and another one for both living and working with cages built under or beside the floating houses for breeding fish. There are 2 types of compound housing in a floating village: Individual houses, Cluster of houses. Drawback
One problem that floating cities face is lack of urban planning and public buildings that are very important for the activities of a community such as Kindergartens, Schools, Culture houses, Play grounds for children, etc. Also , at times there is boat traffic congestion.
Building site and Landscape Located in territories where there are less winds and have a slow water flow that is convenient for transportation, low salinity, away from tsunamis, mountains and suitable for fish breeding. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
55
The main block frequently faces south to welcome the cool wind. In north and central coastal zones, the south direction prevents the house from solar radiation from the east and west and cold wind from the north in winter. Food production and Landscaping In rural traditional houses, gardens are the sources of daily green vegetables, seasonal fruits, construction timber and landscaping. Although, living on the water without land, water dwellers still keep planting trees in pots, flower vases located around their houses. These plants provide landscape and also cools air as possible and sunlight heat in winter as well as fence of cold wind and limit heat losses. They act as climate screen from radiation, cold wind and rain. These vertical garden and floating gardens would provide green vegetables for the house owners around the year.
Organization of space Follows rural traditional architecture. The front garden, patio, main block, and back garden from the typical design chain of most rural houses in Vietnam. Creates good microclimate and convenience. The main block has 2 parts : living room used for crafts and business, Buddha prayer niche, bedrooms. The secondary holds kitchen, sheds, toilet, storage and working space. In fish farm villages except for the private main house and guesthouse, there are fish cages below the houses. Proposals For poor communities, water dweller can use pontoons or recycled drums, barrels such as empty oil drums, steel drums and airtight plastic cylinders. For wealthier communities, they can use Polystyrene EPS and concrete. Steel post and timber also can be used, along with light materials.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
56
Materials They are generally simple and delicate cause of affordability. Mostly they come from natural sources. Simple timber post and beam structures are built predominantly from light – weighted bamboo, mangrove, and wood. The climate screen on the façades, gables and roofs are typically made of steel sheets, timber wood, bamboo, reeds, palm fronds, etc. Achieving Micro- Climate - The facades are designed to allow air and gusts of wind to pass through the material: wickerwork, latticework and reed weaves, in order to make it adjustable for day and night.(doors, screens, windows, etc) - Water dwellers maximise the area of windows (e.g. louvres) which should be shaded from sun and protected from rain. To catch breeze and be left open in wet conditions. Such as louvers or using awning to shade windows as well as provide rain protection. Large entry doors can be opened and expanded under hot weather conditions. - Sloping roofs on two- sides with drain system and high foam thickness for insulation with roofing materials such as wood, bamboo, reeds, palm fords, etc. nowadays, they are using substitutes such as bamboo- leaf thatching and corrugated sheet metal. - Shaded patios or porch to protect from rain water and direct solar radiation.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
57
Energy Usage Open well system and rain water collection in domestic tanks. Also, converting salt water into drinking water. Sunlight is used for drying sea food, storage or business. Moreover, solar panels can be provided to produce electricity. Sanitation
There is no proper provision for sanitation. The food waste and toilet is directly let into the water, that floats along the river. This could be very hazardous and is being a inhabitable space. Solution has to be provided for such conditions.
OTHER DETAILS
House was built on a steel platform structure with steel pontoons.
Makoko Floating Lagos, Nigeria school
Source : https://www.dezeen.com/2014/03/25/makoko-floating-school-nigeria-nle/
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
58
5 . DESKTOP / CASE STUDIES Since this topic yet being in theoretical stage and still under proposal, it is important the we study Various part studies to figure out structural, technical and functional strategies that were used and that can be considered into our design.
5.1 SEASTEADING PROJECTS IN PROPOSAL Seasteading has been proposed in proposal since 1960’s but came into lime light since 2014. As the demand for land increased in coastal area and reclamation has shown negative impacts, seasteading got heads up. Presently there are certain projects of steading that are either in proposal stage or got a lot of appreciation. Some such projects have been studies as desktop studies here. 5.1.1. Oceanix city displays the example of a community level development that is net zero. 5.1.2. Green float is example of a high rise community along with eco forest and tourism facilities. It also has resort accommodations. 5.1.3. Mermaid 2.0 is an example a for a luxurious and iconic development; accommodating museums, resorts, restaurant and civic centres.
5.1.1. Oceanix City - SFC – the Big
Source : https://oceanix.org/ https://big.dk/#projects-sfc
SIZE: 75 hectares size STATUS : presently under progress, PROPOSED BY : Big architects by Bjarke Ingels. PURPOSE : The vast majority of coastal cities will be impacted by coastal erosion and flooding, displacing millions of people, while destroying homes and infrastructure. As part of UNhabitats, New Urban Agenda, Oceanix and BIG propose a vision for the world’s first resilient and sustainable floating community. CAPACITY : 10,000 residents. GOALS : Designed as a man- made ecosystem, Oceanix city is anchored in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, channelling flows of energy, water, food and waste to create a blueprint for a modular maritime metropolis DESIGN : Designed to grow, transform and adapt organically over time, evolving from neighbourhoods to cities with the possibility of scaling indefinitely. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
59
EVOLUTION : Modular neighbourhoods of 2 hectares (structures in the neighbourhood are kept below 7 stories to create a low centre of gravity and resist wind ). Every building fans out
to self- shade internal spaces and public realm, providing comfort and lower cooling costs while maximizing roof area for solar capture.
By clustering size neighbourhoods around a protected central harbour, larger villages of 12 hectares can accommodate up to 1650 residents. Social, recreational and commercial functions are placed around the sheltered inner ring to encourage citizens to gather and move around the village. Aggregating to reach a critical density, six villages form a city of 10,000 residents with a strong sense of community and identity.
MICRO CLIMATE: Every building fans out to self- shade internal spaces and public realm, providing comfort and lower cooling costs while maximizing roof area for solar capture. SPACES PROVIDED: self -sustaining communities of up to 300 residents with mixed -use
space for living, working and gathering during day and night time.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
60
Oceanix city - Proposal Aerial view
Communal farming and structures of Bamboo
Market and commercial space in ground floor
Community view with electric vehicles and market view, and low rise housing above. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
61
BUILDING MATERIALS: All communities regardless of size will prioritize locally sourced materials for building construction, including fast growing bamboo that has six times the tensile strength of steel. a negative carbon footprint, and can be grown on the neighbourhoods themselves. FOOD: Communal farming is the heart of every platform, allowing residents to embrace sharing culture and zero waste systems. Below sea level, beneath the platforms, bio rock floating reefs, seaweed, oysters, mussel, scallop and calm farming clean the water and accelerate ecosystem regeneration.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
62
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
63
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
64
5.1.2. Green float- SHMZ
Source : Green Float concept: a carbon negative city on the ocean BY DARREN QUICK
SIZE: 45 Hectares : A 45ha residential zone is envisioned, spanning 30m from the island’s coast. STATUS : presently under progress, PROPOSED BY : SHMZ group PURPOSE : happiness should be measured separately from material wealth. Contact with Nature. Time passed leisurely in cultural pursuits. Healthy and comfortable living. And blending into and living and growing harmoniously with Nature as part of the ecosystem. We can make a city, like a single plant, that embodies these principles. Model of a new environmental city was born from these aspirations. CAPACITY : 3,000 Units: About 10,000 people living in approximately 3,000 units, with an average unit area of roughly 150m2. Total - 30,000 residents. GOALS : Reduction of Co2 and making it carbon negative, Produce food that is self - sufficient and zero waste, Use 100% renewable energy, Save island nations from rising sea levels, Make it immune from the impact of earthquakes and tsunamis, Free from typhoons and hurricanes
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
65
DESIGN : Dandelions spread gently, their seeds borne by the wind. Where plants grow, a variety of living things gather. Plants, animals and humans all grow according to natural law and by maintaining the balance of order. This amazing mechanism is the basis of the botanical city. EVOLUTION : Low rise town houses, and more green spaces .A marine forest with a rich biodiversity and dense seaweed. A terrestrial forest creation, with the city tower of 700m height, accommodating Offices, research facilities, stores, hotels, convention centres. MICRO CLIMATE: The temperature at 1,000m above the equator is a refreshing 26℃ yearround with no strong winds and most pleasant . SPACES PROVIDED: new business models: agrimarket, beauty and health markets, pharmaceutical market. Working zones, food production , plant factory for food self sufficiency, fresh vegetables that are chemical free, office, commercial, cultural, educational and medical care facilities.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
66
1000 M
1000 M
3000 M
STRUCTURAL PROVISION: The structure is balanced by water weighing 400 million tons. This is equal to the weight of around 1,300 large-scale oil tankers (300,000 tons each). normal seas, strong wind waves and tsunamis will have almost no effect on structural safety . The honeycomb structure incorporates hexagonal cells. Widely used in construction and leading- edge aerospace fields, this structure is more than 90% air, making it both strong and lightweight. We will construct an artificial offshore ground structure by linking these honeycombs. Magnesium Alloys: Structural Materials Created from Sea Water, and FRP can be used.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
67
5.1.3. Mermaid 2.0 - JDS
Source : http://desmena.com/2010/11/mermaid-20a-maritime-lifestyle-concept-designed-by-jds/
SIZE: 100,000 sq.m STATUS : Schematic Design, PROPOSED BY : JDS, Bjarke ingels,etc. in Middle east. PURPOSE : Wellness Island is an all inclusive resort in the Middle East where tourists enter through an exclusive marina and beach. With various levels of retail and a wellness spas, the island’s under belly contains all the core program for both the spa and marina. CAPACITY : Visited by tourists or temporary stay. GOALS : Above exists a large valley of terraced gardens, which form the hotel and service apartments. Each unit has a panoramic view of the entire area. Wellness Island is all about experience. Wellness Island offers a unique focus on quality of life, personal development and individual space.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
68
MICRO CLIMATE : Each level, from the beach entrance, to the wellness spa, to the gardens and
hotel is designed to create a unique experience and relaxing atmosphere. The frame through which sea, air and light converge to stimulate the senses, Wellness Island offers a unique focus on quality of life, personal development and individual space. SPACES PROVIDED: Dolphinarium in the caves beneath hills, wellness centre within smallest hill, holiday apartments in the medium hill, Hotel in the largest hill.
Concept evolution with micro climate
Seastead sectional elevation
Seastead views SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
69
5.2 AKIN PROJECTS
Source : https://www.mgsarchitecture.in/architecture-design/projects/380floating-and-moving-houses-a-need-of-tomorrow.html
Studying similar projects will help us understand technical and structural provisions. Also, how they are producing energy and managing their waste generated. These aspects can be induced into our design. For example, 5.2.1. Floating homes of Amsterdam will help us to understand how the structures are made to float, and their thermal balance created (using energy from ocean). 5.2.2. Sail boats will give floating platform compartmentation ideas and food and waste
management 5.2.3. Oil platforms give examples for platform anchoring and explain regarding calamities that the proposed seastead design might face. 5.2.4. Islands explain us the ecosystem that can enriched on the platform 5.2.5. Land reclamation will show ways of management – food, structure, waste, water, challenges 5.2.6. Seasteading concept when introduced initially, the challenges it faced .
5.2.1. Floating Homes In IJburg, Amsterdam, Netherlands, there are 75 floating homes consisting of detached and row houses. 19 detached floating residences with various facades are built on a small canal in Eilandenrijk, Netherlands. Floating homes in North America are found on lakes and rivers in Pacific North west coastal regions such as Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle, Portland and San Fransisco; which are mostly built on wooden rafts. Required resilient factors for floating homes - response to natural disasters : feedback sensitivity, adaptability, durability, dynamic future, natural system, implementation in stages. - energy aspects : passive system , renewable resources - environmental aspects : diversity, redundancy, modularity, transcendence of scales, basic human needs, environmental responsiveness and integration - social aspects : social equity and community.
Floating house is easy to get various renewable energy sources because there are not so many physical obstacles in the sea, river or lake. more solar and wind energies can be obtained by the house on water than on the urban land. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
70
Resilient features of the floating house
“make it right” project - materials
- buoyant characteristics for natural disasters,
after the hurricane ‘katrina’, a floatable
-
easy employment
house model was developed by Morphosis
-
potential use of renewable resources
-
low cost and prefabricated parts
-
nearly self-sufficient energy systems
-
easily transportable
-
movability, mobility
-
adaptable to various flood prone areas
-
long life, water recycle system
-
base is made of polystyrene foam covered
-
prefabrication and modular construction
in glass and concrete, and contains the
-
reduced environmental impact
plumbing and electrical systems.
-
peaceful and comfortable atmosphere
-
in case of flooding, the house will float up to 3.6m above the ground, anchored by
Sustainability seen in Portland, USA large
guideposts that prevent it from drifting.
number of houses have been built on the Columbia and Willamette rivers, including a
Disadvantage
net zero energy floating home
-
-
solar PV system
-
solar water heating
-
rainwater collection and reuse
-
reclaimed and certified wood
wet environment, shadows on the bottom of water space
-
water pollution from buildings and pontoon materials
-
negative impact on ecosystem
Autark Home is nearly self sufficient floating home with a European passive house certificate. a prototype house is currently anchored in Mass River, Maastricht, Netherlands. -
Has 2 stories, 109.4 sqm floor area, 55cm thick massive EPS outer wall. isolated windows and doors, triple glass and no thermal bridges.
-
For hot water supply, there is an isolated water tank with capacity of 4000 litres and 6 solar heat panels on the roof to keep the water at a temperature of 70 to 80 deg celcius for 4 to 5 days for a household.
-
The electricity is supplied by 24 solar photovoltaic cells with a total output of 6360 Wp.
-
The electricity is stored in 24 batteries, each with a capacity of 1000 Ah, supplying enough electricity for 4 days for a normal family, system delivers 5300 KWh a year.
-
In adverse weather conditions, a bio- diesel generator supplies the home with additional electric power.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
71
-
The hydrothermal use of sea or river water beneath the floating house might be of great advantage because the temperature of water is usually lower than that of outdoor air in summer and the reverse in winter.
-
Wind power turbines. Hybrid systems composed of solar photovoltaic cells with wind turbines are generally complementary because the sun usually comes up when there is no wind during the day and wind usually blows when there is no sun.
-
high quality drinking water is purified through reverse osmosis in combination with sand and a UV filter.
-
waste water is treated by 90% before it returns to the river, by built- in filtration system.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
72
5.2.2. Sail boats and Cruise ships
Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruise_ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. They typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "shore excursions." On "cruises to nowhere" or "nowhere voyages", cruise ships make two- to three-night round trips without visiting any ports of call.
As of December 2018, there are 314 cruise ships operating worldwide, with a combined capacity of 537,000 passengers. with an estimated market of $29.4 billion per year, and over 19 million passengers carried worldwide annually. the world's largest passenger ship is Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas. Symphony of the Seas measures 361.011 metres in length and has a gross tonnage of 228,081 across 18 decks. She is able to accommodate 5,518 passengers at double occupancy up to a maximum capacity of 6,680 passengers, as well as a 2,200-person crew. There are 16 decks for guest use, 22 restaurants, 4 pools and 2,759 cabins. Facilities include a children's water park, a full-size basketball court, ice-skating rink, a zip line that is 10 decks high, a Broadway-style theatre with seating capacity of 1,401 passengers, an outdoor aquatic theatre with Olympic-height platforms, and two 43-foot (13 m) rock-climbing walls. There is also a park containing over 20,000 tropical plants. One of the cocktail bars on-board includes electronic ordering via tablet.
Disadvantages are that the cruise ships have been known to have a high crime rate, and confusion on federal laws that it has to follow, based on the location of ship during the scene of crime. The ship registers to small countries for exemptions or less taxes, whereas functions in waters of major developed countries. consumes high energy, emits large amount of air and water pollution. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
73
Archimedes Principle
Source : https://www.britannica.com/science/Archimedes-principle
In the third century BC, the Greek mathematician and philosopher Archimedes concluded that an object in a fluid experiences an upward force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object.
Because the upward force equals the weight of the fluid displaced, an object must displace a greater weight of fluid than its own weight in order to float. That means that in order to float an object must have a lower density than the fluid. If the object's density is greater than that of the fluid, it will sink.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
74
5.2.3. Oil Platforms
Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_platform
Offshore structures are used worldwide for a variety of functions and in a variety of water depths, and environments. Since right selection of equipment, types of platforms and method of drilling and also right planning, design, fabrication, transportation, installation and commissioning of petroleum platforms, considering the water depth and environment conditions are very important, this paper will present a general overview of these aspects.
Oil platform is a large structure with facilities for well drilling to explore, extract, store, and process petroleum and natural gas that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platforms will also contain facilities to accommodate their workforce. Offshore oil production involves environmental risks. However, aquatic organisms invariably attach themselves to the undersea portions of oil platforms, turning them into artificial reefs.
These offshore structures must function safely for design lifetimes of twenty-five years or more and are subject to very harsh marine environments. Some important design considerations are peak loads created by hurricane wind and waves, fatigue loads generated by waves over the platform lifetime and the motion of the platform. The platforms are sometimes subjected to strong currents which create loads on the mooring system and can induce vortex shedding. The offshore oil and gas platforms are generally made of various grades of steel, from mild steel to high-strength steel, although some of the older structures were made of reinforced concrete.
Different analyses needed for template platforms • In -place analysis
• Lift/Launch analysis
• Earthquake analysis
• Upending analysis
• Fatigue analysis
• Uprighting analysis
• Impact analysis
• Unpiled stability
• Temporary analysis
• Pile and conductor
• Loadout analysis
• Cathodic protection
• Transportation analysis
• Transportation analysis
• Appurtenances analysis
• Installation analysis
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
75
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
76
5.2.4. Islands
Source : https://geographyandyou.com/island-types-world/
An Island is a piece of ground that is surrounded by water. Water is all around an island. Islands are smaller than continents. The largest island in the world is Greenland, unless Australia is believed to be an island.
Earth is home to over 100,000 islands. The 150 largest alone have a landmass equal to the size of Europe. One in every ten people on Earth is an islander. More than 600 million people live on islands. Hallig Oland is a small island. About 30 people live close together.
i) Continental Islands: The land at the beach doe not end like a sudden cliff. Around the edges of continents there is a stretch of gradually declining land. This area is
called the continental shelf. A Continental island is simply an island that rests on the continental shelf. Because of this, these islands are always quite close to a given continent. Also, the water level around a continental island is very shallow, typically less than 600ft. The fauna of the continental island as well as the mainland are more or less identical and always include certain proportions of mammals and amphibian. The survival of such forms on the continental islands is due to lack of competition from the more progressive forms and
hence they are shielded from the hazardous effects of natural selection. Some examples are Great Britain, Philippines, Japan. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
77
ii) Oceanic Islands: These are not part of continental shelf areas, they are not, and have never been, connected to a continental land mass. They originate in volcanic action typically associated with the movement of the lithospheric plates. Most typically these are volcanic islands. They are
often far removed from the nearest mainland. These always include a chance assemblage of animals composed of a haphazard collection of diverse animal groups. Its fauna is quite conspicuous by the entire absence of terrestrial mammals and amphibians. It must be derived from across the sea. The direction of fauna will be determined by the prevailing wing and ocean currents. The island differs from the mainland in climate, vegetation and fauna. Animals tend to develop into sizes like the giant, be wingless insects, birds loose colour and become white or dark forms. Example, the Mariana Islands , Bermuds, Galapagos.
Oceanic Islands
Desert Islands
Artificial Islands
iii) Desert Islands: It is an island with no people, i.e., uninhabited . Typically, a desert island is denoted as such because it exists in a state of being deserted , or abandoned. Some are protected as natural reserves and some are privately owned. These usually have no source of fresh water, but occasionally a freshwater lens can be reached with a well. Many turtles, fragile species, sea birds take the advantage of these islands due to the absence of terrestrial predators and humans. Example, Astola, Auckland, Appat, Coral Sea, Ball’s pyramid islands.
iv) Artificial Islands: An Artificial island is an island that has been constructed by humans rather than formed by natural means. They are created by expanding existing islets, construction on existing reefs, combining several natural islets into a bigger island. Dubai is home to several artificial islands projects, including the three Palm islands projects, The world and the Dubai waterfront. Also, structures like Hong Kong international airport, Kansai International Airport. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
78
v) Atoll: An atoll is a kind of island. it is amde when a coral reef forms around an island that sinks over many years. In the end, the land is gone, and only the coral reef continues to grow until it becomes an atoll, an island shaped like a doughnut. Charles Darwin, who is most famous
for his theory of evolution, was the first person to find out how atolls form. He said that volcanoes in the ocean sometimes wear away or sink deeper. Coral growing on a volcano likes to be near the surface, and it keeps growing to stay there. Most atolls are in the warm parts of the Pacific Ocean or the Indian Ocean. vi) Coral Islands: A coral island is the result of an atoll whose lagoon has dried up or been filled in with coral sand and detritus. This state is typically the last in the life cycle of an island, the first being volcanic and the second being an atoll. Most of the world’s coral islands are in the Pacific Ocean. The American territories of Jarvis, Baker and Howland Islands are clear examples of coral islands. Also, some of the islands belonging to Kiribati are considered coral islands.
Atoll
Coral Islands
Most Beautiful Islands in the World -
Maldives. Maldives Bora Bora, French Polynesia. Bora Bora, French Polynesia Palawan, Philippines. Palawan, Philippines Seychelles. Seychelles Santorini, Greece. Santorini, Greece The Cook Islands. The Cook Islands Bali, Indonesia. Bali, Indonesia
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
79
5.2.5. Land Reclamation Projects
Source : https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetarysciences/land-reclamation
Given the growing world population, which needs increased housing options, the growth in world trade by water and thus a need for ports, plus the increase in climate events – storms and floods – related to global warming, land reclamation will certainly be in demand for the near future.
Land reclamation is the process of creating new land by raising the elevation of a waterbed or lowlying land or by pumping water out of muddy morass areas. It is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. Land reclamation can be achieved with a number of different methods. The simplest method involves filling the area with large amounts of heavy rock and/or cement, then filling with clay and dirt until the desired height is reached. The process is called "infilling" and the material used to fill the space is generally called "infill".
Draining of submerged wetlands is often used to reclaim land for agricultural use. Deep cement mixing is used typically in situations in which the material displaced by either dredging or draining may be contaminated and hence needs to be contained. Land dredging is also another method of land reclamation. It is the removal of sediments and debris from the bottom of a body of water. It is commonly used for maintaining reclaimed land masses as sedimentation, a natural process, fills channels and harbours naturally -
The whole 3 km2. business district of Cebu South Road Properties in Cebu City, Philippines
-
Some of the coastlines of Saadiyat Island, in the UAE. Used for commercial purposes.
-
Much of the coastlines of Mumbai, India. It took over 150 years to join the original Seven Islands of Bombay. These seven islands were lush, green, thickly wooded, and dotted with 22 hills, with the Arabian Sea washing through them at high tide. The original Isle of Bombay was only 24 km long and 4 km wide from Dongri to Malabar Hill (at its broadest
point) and the other six were Colaba, Old Woman's Island, Mahim, Parel, Worli and Mazgaon. -
Much of the coastline of Karachi, Pakistan. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
80
Beach restoration: Beach rebuilding is the process of repairing beaches using materials such as sand or mud from island. This can be used to build up beaches suffering from beach starvation or erosion from longshore drift . It stops the movement of the original beach material through longshore drift and retain a natural look to the beach. Although it is not a long-lasting solution, it is cheap compared to other types of coastal defences. an example of this is the city of Mumbai.
Land reclamation in the wetlands of the Žuvintas biosphere reserve resulted in a number of
negative consequences:
Land abandonment : Part of drained land appeared to be not suitable for intensive agriculture or forestry and currently is abandoned and overgrown by trees and bushes. Maintenance costs: Maintenance of the drainage system and endikements in the peaty soils requires substantial resources. That makes maintaining certain drained areas not only ecologically, but also economically unfeasible.
Soil erosion : Peat mineralizes and shrinks fast when it is dried and exposed to air. 1cm to 5cm of peat layer can be lost per year depending of conditions. It's calculated that approximately 1 m of peat layer is already lost since the drainage was established in Amalvas mire. Input to climate change : Peat mineralization process also results in increased emissions of greenhouse gasses (mainly CO2 and N2O). According to preliminary calculations ~15 thousands tones of carbon dioxide is annually produced in drained Amalvas peatlands. Fire : Fire, sometimes very severe (in 1983, 2002), appears occasionally in the degraded bog area and cause additional damage to the bog. Impact on biodiversity : Hydrological alterations caused degradation of all the former Amalvas active raised bog and part of bog woodlands (~1600 ha). Approximately 1200 ha area of the habitat still is capable to regenerate. Currently overgrowth by trees takes place and reduction of open areas required by such species like Black grouse, Golden plover, Curlew, Wood Sandpiper. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
81
There are several impacts that land reclamation has had on coastal ecosystems:
1. Disruption of the food chain/web Sediments in the water do not allow plants like the phytoplankton to
survive as sunlight is unable to penetrate the cloudy water surface. Phytoplankton is the base of the aquatic food chain/web. A decrease in the amount of phytoplankton means a decrease in the amount of food for the organisms down the chain and web. Similarly, the loss of coral reefs, a source of shelter for many aquatic animals like the damselfish, threatens the survival of these reef organisms.
2. Decrease in quality of water Land reclamation also changes the quality of the surrounding areas of water. Material used causes the water to be more acidic, and certain organisms are unable to adapt to this environment. Sediments also do not allow sunlight to pass through, cause many aquatic plants to be unable to photosynthesize. This upsets the oxygen-carbon dioxide levels in the water, making it harder for
organisms to survive. Additionally, the loss of mangrove forests, whose roots help trap sediments and other impurities, would mean that there is a loss of a natural filter to help keep our waters impurity-free.
3. Loss of coastal ecosystems The most important, and undeniably the most grave, impact land reclamation has is the loss of ecosystems. When these ecosystems are destroyed, there is no retrieving them back. There is only a limited number of existing organisms and wildlife in which we have. Clearing over 90% of mangroves that previously existed on our land in order to build new residential areas would mean that we have lost 90% of mangrove forests that we can never get back.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
82
5.2.6. Seasteading institute, future
Source : https://www.seasteading.org/engineering/ https://www.marineinsight.com/future-shipping/what-is-seasteading/
Seasteading is the concept of creating permanent dwellings at sea, called seasteads, outside the territory claimed by any government. The term is a combination of the words sea and homesteading. Modern seasteading began around 2008 when Patri Friedman began highlighting his idea in Silicon
Valley to build seastead communities where you could essentially “vote with your home”. This would allow for more experimentation in governance structures and advance governance in the same way that cell phones progress due to consumers having the ability to choose their cell phone.
Initially Patri teamed up with Peter Thiel to found The Seasteading Institute (TSI). With Mr. Thiel’s initial donation TSI began exploring ways to make seasteading happen. They did many studies, held contests for various designs and branched off different projects. The plans have usually revolved around building large cities which were very costly and were never able to obtain the financing necessary to get off the ground. Early designs mainly used oil rigs as inspiration working toward building structures high above the waves. Then around 2012 the idea was put forward to do a phased approach of building in a
protected waterway of a host nation under a special economic zone as a Phase 1 approach. This would be followed by Phase 2 where the seastead is moved 12 nautical miles out into the ocean where the seastead could enjoy relative sovereignty (barring oil and mineral rights). The third and final phase would be to move out into the open ocean 200 nm out to sea in international waters. The phased approach would take decades and is currently being pursued by Blue Frontiers. They are working on getting permission from French Polynesia and have several other countries in the works. The water is shallow and protected from damaging waves. Bobbing up and down in the lagoon are futuristic floating dwellings with clean lines and grass-covered roofs. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
83
Neil Davies is the executive director of the University of California, Berkley's Gump South Pacific Research Station on the island of Moorea. He assisted with these workshops, and said the
consensus was largely positive. "It's possible to build floating platforms that would not have a very negative impact, as long as you respected certain conditions about shading and the location of them," Dr Davies said. "If they were located right, if they were designed right, and of course that includes the waste treatment and the materials used and everything else. "They could be done in this kind of environment and would have low impact or even possibly some beneficial impact — certainly a beneficial impact economically, for example. Marshall Savage discussed building tethered artificial islands in his 1992 book The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps, with several color plates illustrating his ideas. Other historical predecessors and inspirations for seasteading include: -
Oil platforms.
-
The Principality of Sealand, a micro nation formed on a decommissioned sea fort
near Suffolk, England. -
Smaller floating islands in protected waters, such as Richart Sowa's Spiral Island
-
Floating communities, such as the Uru people on Lake Titicaca, the Tanka people in Aberdeen, Hong Kong, and the Makoko in Lagos, Nigeria.
-
The non-profit Women on Waves, which operates hospital ships that allow access to abortions for women in countries where abortions are subject to strict laws
-
The Republic of Rose Island, a short-lived micro nation on a man-made platform in the
Adriatic Sea, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) off the coast of the province of Rimini, Italy. -
Pirate radio stations anchored in international waters, broadcasting to listeners on shore.
Criticism regarding seasteading Criticisms have been levelled at both the practicality and desirability of seasteading. Critics believe that creating governance structures from scratch is a lot harder than it seems. Also, seasteads would still be at risk of political interference from nation states. On a logistical level, without access to culture, travel, restaurants, shopping, and other amenities, seasteads could be too remote and too uncomfortable to be attractive to potential long-term residents. Building seasteads to withstand the rigors of the open ocean may prove uneconomical. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
84
Seastead structures may blight ocean views, their industry or farming may deplete their environments, and their waste may pollute surrounding waters. Some critics believe that seasteads will exploit both residents and the nearby population.
Others fear that seasteads will mainly allow wealthy individuals to escape taxes, or to harm mainstream society by ignoring other financial, environmental, and labour regulations.
5.3 PROJECTS FAILED / IN HOLD Similar projects that have failed or have stopped should be studied to understand the problems and challenges we might face, and we have to avoid in our proposal. 5.3.1. Poseidon was proposed underwater with not enough technology and having political barriers 5.3.2. New Utopia was proposed on atoll and highly luxurious. Was a scam
5.3.3. Spar Buoy is a very small platform, cannot be implemented for seasteading 5.3.4. Initially proposed seastead had political barrier and no waste management. 5.3.5. Triton City even though proposed in 1960’s and was started , but faced political issues 5.3.6. Venus project was proposed at world scale level. It was too hypothetical to become real
5.3.1. Poseidon Undersea Resort
Source : https://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/poseidon-undersearesort-fiji/ http://www.poseidonresorts.com/poseidon_main.html
Poseidon Undersea Resorts was a proposed chain of underwater five-star resorts that was first slated to open by September 2008. The first was to be located on a private island in Fiji. The
project was to be the world's first permanent one-atmosphere seafloor structure. The hotel will be located 40ft underwater and spread across an area of 5,000 acres (2,023ha).Final design and structural engineering of the undersea hotel was completed in December 2012.The construction of the hotel is expected to take two years for its completion. Poseidon was conceived and developed by L. Bruce Jones, president of U.S. Submarines, Inc. The proposed location was Katafanga Island in Fiji. With a design concept in mind, Jones needed to find an appropriate location. To help find it, Jones offered a $10,000 reward for anybody that came up with the perfect location for the venture. After taking the suggestion of a business associate, who recommended a reef off Eleuthera, an island in the Bahamas, negotiations began with the island's American owners. The negotiations did not go well, and after a year of failed back-andforth offers the location was scrapped and sights were set off Fiji. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
85
The resort was to feature twenty-four 550-square-foot (51 m2) guest rooms, an underwater restaurant and bar, a library, conference room, wedding chapel, spa and a 1,200-square-foot (110 m2) luxury suite. Reservations at the resort were to be priced at $30,000 per couple per week. A range of sporting
facilities will be available at the resort, including golf, tennis courts, beach volleyball, windsurfing, sailing, kayaking, cave exploration and bike riding. The resort will also offer submarine piloting, deep reef excursions and scuba diving.
The undersea suites, comprising of 24 suites and one apartment, will be located 40ft below the water’s surface. The suites will be connected to land through two piers. A specially designed elevator will transport the guests to the suites.
The suites are designed as individual modules measuring 33ft x 17ft with a floor space of 550ft². The suite rooms will be built with four inch-thick transparent acrylic plastic and covered by one inch-thick steel wall structures. Nearly 70% of the suites’ surface areas are transparent,
providing spectacular views of the undersea ocean.
The undersea resort will be maintained at one-atmosphere, which means that the interiors are at surface pressure, which will protect guests from the physiological effects of hydrostatic pressure. All the units of the resort will be detachable, except the central corridor of the undersea structure. Automated view-port cleaning systems will remove dirt and plant growth on the transparent surface of the undersea suites. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
86
Construction of the underwater hotel The steel components of the undersea suites will be fabricated at a facility located on the Fijian west coast. The interior hallway sections and end units will be fabricated at a shipyard, also located on the Fijian west coast. All components will be transported to the shipyard where they
will be assembled.
The interior components of the resort will be preassembled, tested and then disassembled. They will be packed in containers and transported to the shipyard for assembling. The completed undersea suites will be immersion tested and transported to the Poseidon Mystery Island Upon arrival, the entire undersea structure will be towed in place and installed on pre-driven piles. The structure will then be ballasted to slightly negative buoyancy and placed in position on the
seafloor. Umbilicals for fresh water, electricity and ventilation will be connected to the elevator entrances. The resort will be operational within 48 hours of installation. On the outside, each suite has its own coral garden, featuring unique varieties of marine life, which can be lit with the turn of a switch.
All underwater suites, bungalows, or surface apartments include: • A king-size bed with Nordic duvet, luxury pillows and bed linens of the highest quality.
• A lounge with library, Wi-Fi and high-speed Internet access, plus multi-line phones. • Entertainment technology, including a large high-definition flat screen TV, CD/DVD players and satellite radio with surround sound. • Refrigerators continuously supplied with gourmet snacks, French champagne, fine wines and soft drinks. Also available: marble bathrooms with large whirlpool, double sinks and shower, as well as bathrobes, natural sponges and a selection of high quality marine beauty products.
5.3.2. New Utopia
Source : Seasteading: A Practical Guide To Homesteading The High Seas Patri Friedman (with Wayne Gramlich http://www.new-utopia.com/ https://pugnatorius.com/new-utopia/
The New Utopia project is a proposal to build a new country on an unused sea mount in the Carribean. Like the Freedom Ship, this project has been able to garner a significant amount of press coverage, especially at the beginning when it seemed viable. Former insiders report that there was significant business interest. Unfortunately, the leadership was not interested in tackling the hard problems that came up, preferring to sell a fantasy. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
87
Given what happened with Minerva Reef, we are very doubtful that any sea mount raised above surface level will remain unclaimed by the existing sovereign nations for very long. More importantly, a number of more recent reports have suggested that the project has become little more than a scam. An oasis in the middle of the ocean: Office buildings, hotels, theatres and shopping centres, sitting slightly above the surface of the sea in neat rows surrounded by greenery and flowers, with canals of clear blue water, water taxis and gondolas providing transportation for the inhabitants. A new country that has never existed before, which will be built in a moderately tropical sea, a perfect climate, a paradise: Utopia! It was planned the City to provide an airport and docking facilities for the movement of people and goods, and marinas for smaller water- craft, offices, stores, green areas, parks, recreational facilities and living quarters for families. The Minerva Reef A sea mount is a not-quite island, an underwater mountain without enough oomph to make it to sea level. Like land, seamounts are geographically stable but politically problematic. They can act as break waters if they’re close enough to the surface, which is quite useful since waves are one of the major dangers of the ocean. Also they can function as anchoring points or pillar foundations. However if they are raised above sea level, they are vulnerable to claim by land-based jurisdictions, as happened with the Minerva Reef. Since this incident exemplifies the reasons why free-floating sea structures are better politically, we will recount it here.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
88
5.3.3. Spar Buoy
Source : http://www.jeffchan.com/seasteading/conference/2009/seadrome/Spar_buoys_Club stead_Semi_submersible_oil_pl.pdf https://www.academia.edu/4495703/Seasteading_Law_and_History
The Spar Buoy concept [Piolenc2001] is the brain child of F. Marc De Piolenc. The concept is to build a liveable structure that is basically a long cylinder that is ballasted on one end to cause the cylinder (i.e. spar) to float vertically. Since the centre of gravity is significantly below the centre of buoyancy, it basically impossible to tip the structure over. In severe ocean storms, the cylinder bobs up and down with the waves and the cylinder occupants may get quite motion sick, but they should survive. A spar buoy is a tall, thin buoy that floats upright in the water and is characterized by a small water plane area and a large mass. Because they tend to be stable ocean platforms, spar buoys are popular for making oceanographic measurements. Adjustment of the water plane area and the mass allows spar buoys to be tuned so they tend to not respond to wave forcing. This characteristic differentiates them from large water plane area buoys such as discus buoys that tend to be wave followers. Spar buoys are often used as stable platforms for wave measurement devices and air–sea interaction measurements. Spar buoys range in length from a few feet to the 354foot (108 meter) RP FLIP. To avoid the difficulties inherent with shipboard launch and recovery, helicopter deployment of large spar buoys has been studied. With on board signal processing, the Ocean Observer system offers many options for data acquisition and real-time transmission of raw or processed data. Acoustic and
oceanographic sensors, including arrays, can be suspended at any depth in the water column. The buoy is tethered to an anchor or lander assembly with a mooring line or an electro-mechanical cable; the Ocean Observer electronics can be in the buoy or on the lander. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
89
5.3.4. The Floating city , Seasteading
Source : https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-27/theunsinkable-libertarian-dream-of-the-floating-city http://www.seasteading.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Floating-CityProject-Report-4_25_2014.pdf
The Floating City, Long a Libertarian Dream, Faces Rough Seas The Seasteading Institute wants to construct a network of ocean structures to liberate humanity from state control (and taxes). “Plans to settle Minerva reef were crazy,” says Patri Friedman, former Google engineer and point man for the Seasteading Institute. “But that didn’t mean the
ideas themselves were crazy.” The California-based non profit has a different vision of waterborne independence: It promises to free humanity from state control via a network of ocean homesteads. As its website states, the Institute’s floating nations will feed the hungry, clean the atmosphere, cure the sick, and enrich the poor. As a young libertarian, Friedman—the grandson of economist Milton Friedman—recognized his political utopia was unavailable on land, so he began searching for his own Minerva 2.0. In the early 2000s, he joined forces with Wayne Gramlich, a software engineer who proposed using plastic bottles to build floating platforms. Together Friedman and Gramlich self published a book called Seasteading: Homesteading the High Seas that sketched plans for a waterborne homestead in the San Francisco Bay. The book caught the attention of Peter Thiel, co-creator of PayPal and current libertarian-leaning Silicon Valley billionaire. Thiel wrote a check for $500,000, Friedman quit his job at Google, and in 2008, the Seasteading Institute was born.
In the government business, seasteading sees itself as the disruptive start-up that will take on the nation-state’s calcifying IBM mainframe. But progress has been fitful. Friedman and Gramlich’s 2008 plans for a San Francisco “Baystead” never materialized. Later prototypes followed; in 2010, seasteaders announced plans for “ClubStead,” a 200-person resort floating off the California coast, but exorbitant costs blocked construction. The Institute launched its current Floating Cities Project in 2013. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
90
5.3.5. Triton City
Source : https:// www.behance.net/gallery/2971307/Richard-Buckminster-Fullers-Triton-City-project https://dodona.ugent.be/en/exercises/457090985/ http://utopicus2013.blogspot.com/2013/06/triton-city-first-utopian-seasted.html
Buckminster Fuller designed a tetrahedronal floating city for Tokyo bay in the 1960’s. He wrote:Three-quarters of our planet Earth is covered with water, most of which may float organic cities. Floating cities pay no rent to landlords. They are situated on the water, which they desalinate and recirculate in many useful and non polluting ways. They are ships with all an ocean ship’s technical autonomy, but they are also ships that will always be anchored. They don’t have to go anywhere. Their shape and its human-life accommodations are not compromised, as must be the shape of the living quarters of ships whose hull shapes are constructed so that they may slip, fishlike, at high speed through the water and high seas with maximum economy. Floating cities are designed with the most buoyantly stable conformation of deep-sea bell-buoys. Their omnisurface-terraced, slop-faced, tetrahedronal structuring is employed to avoid the lethal threat of precipitous falls by humans from vertically sheer high-rising buildings. The tetrahedron has the most surface with the least volume of all polyhedra. As such, it provides the most possible ‘outside’ living. Its sloping external surface is adequate for all its occupants to enjoy their own private, outside, tiered- terracing, garden homes. These are most economically serviced from the common, omninearest possible center of volume of all polyhedra. When suitable, the floating cities are equipped with ’alongside’ or interiorly lagooned marinas for the safe mooring of the sail- and powerboats of the floating -city occupants. When moored in protected waters, the floating cities may be connected to the land by bridgeways. [Banham1976] There are some similarities between Bucky’s design for a floating city and our current plan. Both have buoyancy was located below the wave action, and both use slopes to give residents more solar area.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
91
Triton was a concept for an anchored floating city that would be located just offshore and connected with bridges and such to the mainland. It was a collection of tetrahedronal structures with apartments and such. It was proposed for 100,000 residents and even had his plans approved by the US Navy. It was called Triton, and was intended to has a shape of a tetrahedron that measured two miles on each side, and capable to host 5000 residents. “Both Bureaus gave the thumbs up, and the Navy's cost estimate came within 10% of Buckminster's. And that's probably
the craziest part of Triton: At every stage, it was going to work.“
Buckminster Fuller was a brilliant visionary, architect, scientist, environmentalist and philosopher who, in the 1960s, developed a bold design for a floating utopia that was dubbed Triton City (below). It would have been assembled from tetrahedral modules, starting with a floating neighborhood of 5000 residents, with an elementary school, a supermarket and a few specialty shops.
Three to six neighborhoods would form a town, and three to seven towns would form a city. At each stage the corresponding infrastructure would be added: schools, civic facilities, government offices, and industry. A full-sized city might accommodate 100,000 people in a single building.
Fuller was initially commissioned by a wealthy Japanese patron to design a floating city for Tokyo Bay. He died in 1966, but astoundingly enough, the United States Department of Urban Development (HUD) commissioned Fuller for further design and analysis. His designs called for the city to be resistant to tsunamis, provide the most possible outside living, desalinate the very water that it would float in for consumption, give privacy to each residence, and incorporate a tetrahedronal shape which provides the most surface area with the least amount of volume.
5.3.6. The Venus Project
Source : https://www.thevenusproject.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Project https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPNMR_iABvyFmc3G9i1r3Lw
Floating Cities are one part of Jacque Fresco’s The Venus Project [VenusProject], which aims to redesign world civilization to be more in line with human and environmental concerns. This includes switching to a resource-based world economy. While we are a bit suspicious of their economic theories, Mr. Fresco has quite an impressive resume. He’s also designed and built a research center for the project, which puts it well ahead of the plethora of similar sounding visions.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
92
The Venus Project is a non-profit organization that presents a new socio-economic model utilizing science and technology toward social betterment to achieve a sustainable civilization of abundance for all, without exception. The Venus Project is a non-profit organization that recognizes the important connection between global resource mismanagement and problems such as war, climate change, poverty, and hunger. In the broader context, these are all detrimental results of the current socio-economic operating system. In response to these challenges, our organization presents solutions through the holistic application of science and technology; two areas in which recent advancements hold the potential to make far-reaching positive impacts. However, while technology may succeed in gradually alleviating some of these problems, they cannot be resolved by simply addressing symptoms, as we do now, because they are by-products of a much larger problem. Another major issue is that business interests currently require shortterm planning and timely returns on investments. For these reasons, in addition to our expanded technical approach, our proposals include an alternative economic model which overcomes these artificial barriers to planetary wellbeing. The first phase of The Venus Project has been completed in a 21-acre Center in still pristine south-central Florida, where the future is currently taking shape. The actual buildings and
conference center are supplemented by models, illustrations, blueprints, posters, books, videos and CGI presentations.
Materials with memory characteristics allow
Technologically advanced society
for design flexibility as well as intelligent
with tremendous capabilities.
resource utilization.
-
Solar Energy, Wind energy
-
Wave power, Tidal power,
-
Automated Construction Systems
-
Automated Cranes
-
Laser Excavators
-
Geothermal energy
-
Industrial Robots
-
Hydroelectric energy, OTEC
-
Nanotechnology
-
Thorium based nuclear power,
underwater turbines
Osmotic power SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
93
5.4 EXTRAORDINARY ENGINEERING Projects with engineering techniques and strategies that have been built at various locations, specifically to resist calamities like typhoons, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. 5.4.1. Shanghai tower has been twisted to an angle as per simulations to resist Typhoon winds at that particular location 5.4.2. The Big U project in New York was done to avoid flooding of the coastal areas. Certain strategies on the edges can be implemented into our design too. 5.4.3. Kansai Airport can be shifted easily in height and can be repaired easily every time there is an earthquake or tsunami. This is because of the structural system it has. 5.4.4. Taipei 101 skyscraper could resist typhoons and hurricane because of its reinforcements techniques and shape used showing very damage in elevation element during a calamity. 5.4.5. Palm Islands has been completely built with natural materials and using high end technology. Simulations in water can be understood from here. 5.4.6. Sand Palace was the only house that could resist hurricane in its surroundings; with simple design elements .
5.4.1. Shanghai Tower – Resists Typhoon
Source : https://www.shanghaitower.com/shanghaizhongxinEnglish/in dex6.php https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Tower
Shanghai Tower stands in the heart of the Lujiazui Financial Zone in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area. The majestic high-rise boasts 127 floors above the ground and 5 floors below ground level. Of the 578,000-square meters total construction space, 410,000 square meters rise above the ground, with 168,000 square meters built underground. The project covers an area of 30,368 square meters.The building encompasses business, hotel, entertainment and sighting. At 632 meters, Shanghai Tower is now the tallest building in China, and the second tallest in the world. construction for Shanghai Tower started on November 29, 2008, and its civil engineering works were completed by the end of 2014. The trial operation was started in January 2017.
Shanghai Tower is a city within a city. It includes nine vertical communities, each of which is 12 to 15 floors tall when the sightseeing area on top of the tower is excluded. Each community is surrounded by a public area between the two layers of glass curtains. The public area offers daily life services to people. The elevator system, exclusively for each community, can transport customers to different parts of the tower smoothly.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
94
At the same time, underground public passages and parking areas are linked directly to adjacent super-skyscrapers. The tower takes the form of nine cylindrical buildings stacked atop each other, totalling 128 floors, all enclosed by the inner layer of the glass facade. Between that and the outer layer, which twists as it rises, nine indoor zones provide public space for visitors. Each of these nine areas has its own atrium, featuring gardens, cafés, restaurants and retail space, and providing panoramic views of the city. Both layers of the façade are transparent, and retail and event spaces are provided at the tower's base, and it can accommodate 16000 people daily.
Unfortunately, Shanghai is located in a seismically active area and the site of the tower is composed primarily of soft, clay-heavy soil. To boost the foundation and make it more of an earthquake proof
building, engineers incorporated 980 piles — some nearly 300 feet deep — secured within 2.15 million cubic feet of reinforced concrete. The Shanghai Tower utilizes a tuned mass damper to control sway during an earthquake or high winds. Weighing in at 1,000 tons, the damper in the Shanghai Tower dwarfs the device used in
Taipei 101 by more than 200 tons. As the building sways, the inertia of the weight counters this movement. For optimal counterbalancing, a series of shock absorbers keep the pendulum from swinging too far or too quickly. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
95
"The greenest super high-rise building on earth at this point in time". -
The building is designed to capture rainwater for internal use, and to recycle a portion of its wastewater.
-
The design of the tower's glass façade, which completes a 120° twist as it rises, reduces wind loads on the building by 24%.
-
This reduced the amount of construction materials needed; used 25% less
structural steel than a conventional design -
As a result, the building's constructors saved an estimated US$58 million in material costs.
-
Construction practices were also optimised for sustainability.
-
Though the majority of the tower's energy will be provided by conventional power systems, 270 vertical-axis wind turbines located in the facade and near the top of the tower are capable of generating up to
350,000 kWh of supplementary electricity per year, and are expected to provide 10% of the building's electrical needs. -
The double-layered insulating glass façade was designed to reduce the need for indoor air conditioning, and is composed of an advanced reinforced glass with a high tolerance for temperature variations.
-
In addition, the building's heating and cooling systems use geothermal energy sources.
-
Rain and waste water are recycled to flush toilets and irrigate the tower's green spaces.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
96
5.4.2. The Big U, NYC - Resists Flooding, Hurricane Source : https://arqa.com/en/architecture/projects/big-u.html http://www.rebuildbydesign.org/our-work/all-proposals/winning-projects/big-u
The low-lying topography of Lower Manhattan from West 57th St down to The Battery, and up to East 42nd St is home to approximately 220,000 residents and is the core of a $500 billion business sector that influences the world’s economy. Hurricane Sandy devastated not only the Financial District, but 95,000 low-income, elderly, and disabled city residents. Infrastructure within the 10-mile perimeter was damaged or destroyed, transportation and communication were cut off, and thousands sat without power or running water. In collaboration with New York City, The BIG U proposal was developed to protect Lower Manhattan from floodwater, storms, and other impacts of a changing
climate. The BIG U calls for a protective system around the low-lying topography of Manhattan beginning at West 57th Street, going down to The Battery, and then back up to East 42nd Street.The proposal was conceived as 10 continuous miles of protection tailored to respond to
individual neighborhood typology as well as community- desired amenities. The proposal breaks the area into compartments: East River Park; Two Bridges and Chinatown; and Brooklyn Bridge to The Battery. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
97
Like the hull of a ship, each can provide a flood-protection zone, providing separate opportunities for integrated social and community planning processes for each. Each compartment comprises a physically separate flood-protection zone, isolated from flooding in the other zones, but each equally a field for integrated social and community planning. The compartments work in concert to protect and enhance the city, but each compartment’s proposal is designed to stand on its own.
East river park: A proposed Bridging Berm will both protect the area from storm surges and rising sea levels, and offer waterfront access for relaxation, socializing, and enjoying river vistas by providing pleasant, accessible routes over the highway into the park. Additionally, salt-tolerant trees and plants will provide a resilient urban habitat. Two bridges and china town: Deployable walls attached to the underside of an elevated highway can flip down to mitigate flooding. Decorated by neighborhood artists, the panels will create an inviting ceiling when not in use, while integrated lighting will transform a currently menacing area into a safe community destination. Brooklyn bridge to the battery: The Battery Berm weaves an elevated path with a series of upland knolls to form unique landscapes. The plan envisions transforming the existing Coast Guard building into a new
maritime museum or environmental education facility featuring a “Reverse Aquarium” where visitors can observe tidal variations and sea level rise. Green infrastructure : Green infrastructure in all three compartments contributes to both flood protection and social amenities in the Big U. Climate-change models predict more frequent heavy-precipitation events, leading to even more street flooding and combined sewer overflows (CSO) than we have already experienced in our largely water impervious city. The urban heat island effect will be exacerbated by longer heat waves. The Big U’s native species bio-swales, rain gardens, and street plantings will absorb and clean stormwater, cool the city, reduce air pollution, store carbon, buffer noise, enhance recreational activities, improve mental health, and provide green jobs. As a by-product of these benefits, they will also save the City and its residents money, for example in healthcare.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
98
5.4.3. Kansai Airport, Japan - Earthquake
Source : http://www.kansaiairports.co.jp/en/company-profile/about-us/ http://www.kiac.co.jp/en/tech/safety/natural/ natural_b/index.html
Kansai opened on 4 September 1994 to relieve overcrowding at the original Osaka International Airport, referred to as Itami Airport, which is closer to the city of Osaka and now handles only domestic flights. It consists of two terminals: Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Terminal 1, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, is the longest airport terminal in the world with a length of 1.7 km
(1.1 mi). In 2016, 25.2 million passengers used the airport making it the 30th busiest airport in Asia and 3rd busiest in Japan. Freight volume was at 802,162 tonnes total, of which 757,414 t were international (18th in the world), and 44,748 t were domestic.
In the 1960s, when the Kansai region was rapidly losing trade to Tokyo, planners proposed a new airport near Kobe and Osaka. The city's original international airport, Itami Airport, located in the densely populated suburbs of Itami and Toyonaka, was surrounded by buildings; it could not
be expanded, and many of its neighbours had filed complaints because of noise pollution problems. After the protests surrounding New Tokyo International Airport (now Narita International Airport), which was built with expropriated land in a rural part of Chiba Prefecture, planners decided to build the airport offshore. An artificial island, 4 km (2.5 mi) long and 2.5 km (1.6 mi) wide, was proposed. Engineers needed to overcome the extremely high risks of earthquakes and typhoons (with storm surges of up to 3 m, 10 ft). The water depth is 18 m on top of 20 m of soft Holocene clay which holds
70% water. A million sand drains were built into the clay to remove water and solidify the clay. Construction started in 1987. The sea wall was finished in 1989 (made of rock and 48,000 tetrapods). Three mountains were excavated for 21 million m3 (27 million cu yd), and 180
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
99
million m3 (240 million cu yd) was used to construct island 1. 10,000 workers and 10 million work hours over three years, using eighty ships, were needed to complete the 30-metre (98 ft) (or 40 m) layer of earth over the sea floor and inside the sea wall. In 1990, a three kilometer bridge was completed to connect the island to the mainland at Rinku Town, at a cost of $1 billion. Completion of the artificial island increased the area of Osaka Prefecture just enough that it is no longer the smallest prefecture in Japan.
The island had been predicted to sink 5.7 m (19 ft) by the most optimistic estimate as the weight of the material used for construction compressed the seabed silts. However, by 1999, the island had sunk 8.2 m (27 ft) – much more than predicted. The project became the most expensive civil works project in modern history after twenty years of planning, three years of construction and US$15bn of investment. In 1991, the terminal construction commenced. To compensate for the sinking of the island, adjustable columns were designed to support the terminal building. These are extended by inserting thick metal plates at their bases. Government officials proposed reducing the length of the terminal to cut costs, but architect Renzo Piano insisted on keeping the terminal at its full planned length. The airport was opened on 4 September 1994. VARIOUS MEASURES AGAINST UNEQUAL SETTLEMENT
If the ground sank equally, there would be no effect on the structures and functions of the airport facilities. However, because the depths of the settlement vary by location, significant problems, such as warping in building structures, occur. Buildings, especially, are very sensitive to this process. Kansai Airports takes the following steps against unequal settlement underneath buildings. RAFT FOUNDATION: The concrete foundation is directly constructed on the seabed so the entire construction settles equally regardless of an unequal settlement. COMPACTION OF THE RECLAIMED LAYER: We have compacted the 30m deep reclaimed layer in order for the sand not to contract due to unpredicted events (earthquakes, etc). BALANCE THROUGH SOIL REMOVAL: The system lifts each of the buildings. It includes installing iron plates to adjust and even up the sloping surfaces because of unequal settlements. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
100
JACK-UP SYSTEM USED FOR THE PASSENGER TERMINAL The huge passenger terminal is KIX's signature building, and one if its unique features is its big
basement in the terminal’s main building. Consequently, the main building is lighter than the adjacent structures. Iron ores have been installed all over the bottom of the main building as weights to even out the weight distribution. However, the main building remains lighter than its neighbours. The depth of settlement under the main building is relatively shallow when compared with those of the nearby buildings. The difference in depth generates slight tilts between the main building and the wings of both ends, seldom visible to the naked eye. Therefore, the pillars under the passenger terminal have been lifted in order to level the floor of the terminal. Terminal 1 building has 900 pillars installed at the bottom. The settlement at each pillar is automatically measured so that we easily know which pillars need to be raised. Lifting up the pillars under the passenger terminal is done once every few years.
5.4.4. Taipei 101 skyscraper – Earthquake and Typhoon Source: https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/city/taipei https://www.dezeen.com/2018/01/24/taipei-sky-towerskyscraper-inspired-shape-bamboo-antonio-citterio-patricia-viel-architecture/
Taipei World Financial Center , is a supertall skyscraper designed by C.Y. Lee and C.P. Wang in Xinyi, Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 until the 2010 completion of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE. In 2011 Taipei 101 received a Platinum rating under the LEED certification system to become the tallest and largest green building in the world. Taipei 101's postmodernist architectural style evokes traditional Asian aesthetics in a modern structure employing industrial materials. Its design
incorporates a number of features that enable the structure to withstand the Pacific Ring of Fire's earthquakes and the region's tropical storms. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
101
The tower houses offices and restaurants as well as both indoor and outdoor observatories. The tower is adjoined by a multilevel shopping mall that has the world's largest ruyi symbol as an exterior feature. Taipei 101 comprises 101 floors above ground, as well as 5 basement levels. The Taipei 101 is designed to withstand typhoon winds and earthquake tremors that are common in the area in the east of Taiwan. Evergreen Consulting Engineering, the structural engineer, designed Taipei 101 to withstand gale winds of 60 meters per second (197 ft/s), (216 km/h or 134 mph), as well as the strongest earthquakes in a 2,500-year cycle. Taipei 101 was designed to be flexible as
well as structurally resistant, because while flexibility prevents structural damage, resistance ensures comfort both for the occupants and for the protection of the glass, curtain walls, and other features. Most designs achieve the necessary strength by enlarging critical structural elements such as bracing. Because of the height of Taipei 101, combined with the surrounding area's geology—the building is located just 660 ft (200 m) away from a major fault line — Taipei 101 used high-performance steel construction and 36 columns, including eight "megacolumns" packed with 10,000 psi (69 MPa) concrete. Outrigger trusses, located at eight-floor
intervals, connect the columns in the building's core to those on the exterior.
The foundation is reinforced by 380 piles driven 80 m (262 ft) into the ground, extending as far as 30 m (98 ft) into the bedrock. Each pile is 1.5 m (5 ft) in diameter and can bear a load of 1,000–1,320 metric tons (1,100–1,460 short tons). RWDI designed a 660 metric tons (728 short tons) steel pendulum that serves as a tuned mass damper, at a cost of NT$132 million (US$4 million). Suspended from the 92nd to the 87th floor, the pendulum sways to offset movements in the building caused by strong gusts. On 8 August 2015, strong winds from Typhoon Soudelor swayed the main damper by 1 meter (39 in) – the largest movement ever recorded by the damper.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
102
Taipei 101's characteristic blue-green glass curtain walls are double paned and glazed, offer heat and UV protection sufficient to block external heat by 50 percent, and can sustain impacts of 7 metric tons (8 short tons).
The facade system of glass and aluminium panels installed into an inclined movementresisting lattice contributes to overall lateral rigidity by tying back to the mega-columns with one-story high trusses at every eighth floor. This facade system is, therefore, able to withstand up to 95 mm (4 in) of seismic
lateral displacements without damage. The facade system is also known as a Damper.
5.4.5. The Palm Island, Dubai – sea waves, wind
Source : https://www.aboutcivil.org/palm-islanddubai-megastructure.html https://www.designbuildnetwork.com/projects/palm-jumeirah/
Palm Islands Dubai : 5 Km into the Persian Gulf, lie the Palm Islands, Dubai. Palm Jumeirah can even be seen from space. It is the biggest man made island in the world. Dubai is one of the richest places in the world, having size twice that of London. By 2016 oil is believed to be finished in Dubai, hence thrashing its economy to ground. Dubai must find a new source of income. The Crown Prince Sheikh Muhammad bin Rasheed Al Maktoum devised a
$2 billion plan to save his country. His vision was to turn Dubai into a #1 luxury and holiday resort. He has the history of getting done what he wants. Besides creating golf courses, world's tallest structures, he also has built the world's tallest hotel - The Burj Al Arab. His idea is mass tourism.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
103
Dubai is a perfect place for the idea, having sunny days throughout the year. It has numerous beaches with hotels and resorts and a number of shopping malls. 5 Million tourists visited Dubai each year, which the Sheikh wanted to triple to 15 million. But the problem was that the coastline of Dubai is just 72 Km, not enough for 15 million tourists that were to come. There is always a solution to a problem, build a massive island, shaped Palm Tree, up to the year 2006. The island was supposed to be 5.5 Km in diameter, thus increasing the coastline by 56 Km.The extra ordinary plan was to build a city in that island. Shopping ,malls, restaurants, hotels, apartments and homes. The island was to host 22 luxurious hotels. Island could also be built from concrete, but to blend it with the surroundings, it was to be made from sand and gravels. 94 million cubic meters of sand was required for its construction. To protect from sea, breakwater was to be built of 5.5 million cubic meters of rock. Together they constitute to be able to build a 2.5 m high wall encircling the entire world.
Forming retaining wall with sand and boulders
Extraction & transportation of sand from sea bed
Construction details : World's best engineers were needed for the project. Search for experienced professional leaded to Dutch, who have increased Holland's land by 35%. they were booked and were to prove first of all that it was possible to build a megastructure island, out at the sea.
Strength of storms in the sea was to be calculated and also the rise in water level due to global warming was taken into account. Strong tides were the dangerous thing. They destroy nearly everything in their path. But this area proved to be a lucky one. Research team worked out that Arabian gulf is only 160 Km wide and only 30 meters deep, hence too short and too shallow for SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
104
catastrophic waves to built up. To keep this fragile island safe, breakwater was to be constructed having height up to 3 meters and 11.5 Km long. In August 2001 the construction of break water started. Ist challenge was to put sand into the sea bed. Dredgers would collect sand from the sea and dump it where break water was to be constructed. All this was done when sea was at its calmest. Finding the right sand was an enormous job in itself. Dubai has a lot of sand, as there are vast areas there. But desert sand was too fine and sand at sea was more coarser and resistant to waves. To keep that sand in place, bare loaded rubble was dropped on to it. This was to rise breakwater to a height of 4 m above sea level. This was beginning of the sea defence, without which island couldn't exist. The sloping layers take out the force of the waves as they hit it. But sand and rubble is at the base. What really protects them both is another layer of rock. Each piece of rock weighed up to 6 tons. Sourcing huge amount of rocks forced builders to excavate rocks from 16 quarries across UAE. To insure that the island is in it s required place and shape, 676 Km up in the space a Private satellite was used. The shape of island is nearly curved everywhere and it required pin point accuracy to shape it as a palm tree, hence, GPS (Global Positioning System) was used while pouring sand into the sea. Mobile receivers were used as a grid reference for the island and the satellite gave coordinates of the point where sand was to be put. The dredgers would then fill the area of sea which they were commanded by the satellite. As the construction of the Megastructure island had started before the research was finished, now engineers realized that fresh water was not circulating properly inside the island branches of the palm shaped area. Tides were not flushing the system properly. Water was in danger of becoming stagnant. Engineers of the Palm Island in Dubai, came up with the solution that to cut the outer ring of island at two places, so that water enters and flushes the system.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
105
Now 4500 houses were to be built along with 22 hotels, shopping malls, resorts, and road network. This sand island was to support a full city but sand was not easy to built upon because sand was sprayed while pouring it in, so it was loose and Un-compacted. Liquefaction due to earthquake could also disappear the island into the sea. When earthquake occurs, it causes the sand particles to move closer due to vibration and compacts, thus pushing the water in between upwards, making the ground liquefy. So the construction team need to compact the sand layers themselves up to 12m depth. Vibro compaction phenomena was used. The island was to house 60, 000 people at first but the people loved the idea so much that the capacity was doubled and all the houses sold out in just 3 days. So, the capacity was doubled and now the island homes accommodate about 0.12 million people. The beaches were to be checked regularly as sea water was eroding it continuously.
5.4.6. The Sand Palace of Mexico - Hurricane
Source : https://www.structuremag.org/?p=14326 https://www.deltechomes.com/learn-more/hurricaneresistance/
Hurricane Michael, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes to ever make landfall in the contiguous United States, made a direct hit on Mexico Beach, Florida, on October 10, 2018.
The Category 4 storm strengthened unexpectedly as it raced through the Gulf of Mexico with maximum wind speeds of 155 mph. At landfall in Mexico Beach, the measured storm surge was nearly 16 feet and, if wave height is added, the height of the wall of water was over 20 feet. In Mexico Beach, almost all of the homes along the beach were destroyed by the wind and waves and swept away. However, one building along the shoreline remained standing, alone in a field of devastation. Several news reports, including coverage in the New York Times, suggested that, from an engineering perspective, something unique had occurred and was worthy of further investigation. The home was built to withstand winds as high as 250 miles per hour — far above what was required by local Florida building codes that require homes to resist winds between 120 and 150 mph. They achieved that
level of resilience by relying on durable materials and fortress-like construction. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
106
The walls are made of poured concrete reinforced with steel and rebar. it employs insulating concrete forms, or ICF, a construction method that involves stacking a series of modular units, sometimes made of polystyrene or other lightweight materials. The units interlock and are then filled with concrete .ICF construction emerged after WWII and involves pouring concrete in place at the construction site. It is generally more resistant to storms and other common household problems such as mold and pests than traditional wood construction. Open Plan These wooden slabs looked like any other wall, but bore no load. (That’s what the stilts are for.) When beating waves deliver 20 pounds of pressure per square foot to the storage space, the partitions wash away with the tide. According to Watson, if the walls had the hardy concrete construction of the upper floors, the material’s structural resistance would have inadvertently increased the pressure of the storm surge, threatening the integrity of the stilts and the living spaces above Cement Sandwich Insulated concrete forms (ICFs) shape the upper floors. To make each 6- inch-thick wall, contractors pour concrete into precast frames and lace it with lengths of horizontal and vertical steel rebar. Two-and-ahalf inches of foam on each side provide insulation and strips of polyethylene stagger throughout the block to act like studs. This setup lets contractors anchor sheetrock or siding into the core of the house, rather than superficially slapping them on the outside. Each additional component screws directly into the durable plastic.
Top Side In the eye of a hurricane, shingles become shrapnel. The Sand Palace's interlocking 26-gauge steel roof won't rip apart and keeps a tight seal. that the "hip roof" layout seen here, with four sloping sides, better withstands pressure from hurricane-force winds than a traditional gable roof, which has just two sloping
sides. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
107
Deep Dig The Sand Palace has great ocean views, but its proximity to the beach places it in a FEMA-designated high velocity flood zone— meaning it's susceptible to the worst of a hurricane's frothing waves. To compensate, building code dictates that the house must sit above the projected surge: In this case, that means the two occupied upper floors start 24.4 feet higher than sea level To support such a spindly structure, engineers had to burrow. Concrete pilings dive 28 feet into the sand. The depth accounts for the total height of the home, with some wiggle room for wind-driven erosion. A hurricane can quickly strip six or more feet of ground cover. Hangs Out “The corners of your house get the most wind pressure,” engineer
Watson explains. The gusts act like a crowbar, pushing up against the overhangs. That’s why the owners originally considered building a round home. In the end, however, they opted for a method to reduce pressure on a traditional square building: slimming porches and minimizing awnings.
Unbroken Glass One fractured window can be the difference between an intact home and a bare concrete slab. When wind finds its way through the seams of a domicile, it can cause a shift in pressure strong enough to rip off a
roof. Each window in the home has three parts: an exterior pane, a small spacer, and a laminated interior pane. It's like a glass sandwich. The exterior sheet may shatter—one in the Sand Palace's upstairs bathroom did—but the interior laminated sheet is stronger. It's forged from two panes fused around a synthetic resin called polyvinyl butyral. It's withstood two hits from a 2-by-4 travelling at 50 feet per second during wind tests. In the worst- case scenario, it will crack
like a car windshield, creating a spider-web effect.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
108
DELTEC PROPOSAL SPECIFICALLY FOR HURRICANE PRONE ZONES Source : https://www.amvicsystem.com/blog/building-disaster-resilient-homes-how-one-home-survived-the-hurricane-in-mexico-beach-florida/ https://www.deltechomes.com/learn-more/hurricane-resistance/
The engineering and innovation behind each Deltec is why they have stood against some of the most detrimental storms in history including direct hits from Hurricanes Dorian, Michael, Maria, Irma, Harvey, Sandy, Katrina, Hugo, Ivan and Charley.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
109
5.5 SUSTAINABILITY FACTORS It is not just a requirement, but a compulsion that architecture now should be sustainable. It should be able to produce its own food, economy, resources and mange its generated waste. Different scenarios and sources arise when we need to develop a net zero proposal in the ocean 5.5.1. Solar energy production through floating PV panels and also roof panels 5.5.2. Wind energy production from floating wind mill plants and wind chimneys 5.5.3. Tidal energy from under waters and thermal energy using the temperature difference between air and ocean water (different mediums) 5.5.4. Aquaponics and Biofuel will help us in producing food, managing waste and waste water, and simultaneously produce the required fuel 5.5.5. Water (rain water) collection and waste management through anaerobic digesters and recycle systems 5.5.6. Other inventions like OTEC systems, ETFE panels can be used . Also, materials that can resist sea water and various techniques for the platform to be structurally stable and float.
5.5.1. Solar energy production in ocean
Source : https://www.cleanenergyauthority.com/solar-energynews/biomimicked-floating-solar-073019
Solar panels can be used on small and large boats effectively, but will only produce power when the sun shines. The effective charging time is on average 5 to 7 hours per day, depending on where you operate your boat. Solar panels require minimal maintenance, don’t make noise, last up to 25 years or more, and are safe. They do, however, need space and special racks for mounting. There are several coastal and island communities in India and around the world with intermittent or no access to electricity. While solar energy can help electrify these locations, acquiring large tracts of land on which to base a plant in these regions is problematic and expensive, especially considering the growing population. However, these coastal regions do have one resource in abundance – the sea. Floating solar power installations on lakes has been gaining popularity over the last few years, but there has been no system capable of laying a solar power plant over the ocean. Technology allows floating solar panels to be installed on lakes, coastal seawater, and manmade reservoirs on a large scale. Ocean Sun has developed its floating solar technology based on biomimicry – a method of finding solutions to human problems by observing and imitating natural, biological systems. In this case, Ocean Sun has based its technology on the giant water lily, a flower
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
110
which is native to the Amazon River basin. The giant water lily has large leaves which float on the surface of water. Ocean Sun has mimicked this biological model by developing floatable solar power panels, which are aptly named as ‘floaters’. These floaters are lightweight, buoyant, and can
be easily installed on water bodies. Just as the water lily utilizes sunlight to perform photosynthesis, Ocean Sun’s floating power plants utilize sunlight to perform photovoltaics – the conversion of sunlight into electricity. Largest installation in the world. Location: Anhui province, China by Sungrow Power Supply producing 40 megawatts. This floating solar array, the largest in the world, produces enough electricity to power 15,000 homes in China. There are 166,000 panels included on the structure.
Currently, most of the floating solar power plants use pontoon-based cones, which are also used in
rooftop solar power systems. These cones are made of polyethylene plastic and are difficult to install on water bodies. Ocean Sun’s floaters, on the other hand, are made of a polymer membrane, which is thin, lightweight, and specifically designed to achieve the required level of buoyancy on the water surface.
These floaters differ from regular floating solar power panels in a number of different ways. * Resistance to Waves and Wind
The polymer membrane of the floater is hydro-elastic in nature, which allows it to move with the waves, rather than resisting them. As a result, the floater can remain seated on the water surface even in adverse weather conditions. A computational fluid dynamics test conducted on the floaters revealed that they are capable of withstanding a category 4 typhoon (170 mph winds). * Higher Efficiency The polymer membrane is only one millimeter thick, which allows much of the heat on the floater’s surface to be transferred to the water body directly underneath it. This reduces the
operating temperatures in the photovoltaic modules, which in turn can increase system efficiency by as much as 15%.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
111
* Easy to Install
The floaters are much easier to install on water bodies compared to regular solar power systems. The floater’s surface is walkable, which makes the installation and maintenance processes even easier. * Scalable The floaters are towable, which means any number of floaters can be anchored together to build large floating solar power plants. The size and shape of the power plant can be determined based on the available water surface area.
SOLAR SAILS Solar sails are being made around the world, where photovoltaic film is attached to each side of the sail. These sails are already being incorporated into the Arcona 380Z (see above), which is the first zero emissions cruising yacht and a joint venture of Arcona Yachts, Oceanvolt Electric Engines and UK Sailmakers. Experts say that the aquatic applications of solar are evolving faster than ever and that innovations in marine transportation will soon swing into the mainstream for everything from small crafts to cruise ships. What held it back, though, were significant obstacles to adapting vessels for clean energy. Cracks in rigid and weighty solar panels and recurring damage to technology from the wet, wind, and salt of sea environments added to already high material costs.
Towed generators are common on long-distance cruising yachts and can generate a lot of power when travelling under sail. a ship’s energy consumption could be reduced by up to 75 percent if shipping companies applied existing technologies and operational measures. Solar modules are rated at an irradiance of 1000 W/ m2 and at 25 Degrees C (and an air mass of 1.5) as the Standard Test Conditions. This means for instance that a 150W module will produce 150W at noon on a nice sunny day that is not too hot. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
112
In 2010, the Tûranor PlanetSolar, a 35-metre long, 26-metre wide catamaran yacht powered by 537 square metres of solar panels, was unveiled. On 4 May 2012 it completed a 60,023 kilometres (37,297 mi) circumnavigation of the Earth in Monaco after 585 days and visiting 28 different
countries, without using any fossil fuel. It is so far the largest solar-powered boat ever built. The 31-metre boat is covered by 537 m2 of solar panels rated at 93 kW, which in turn connect to two electric motors, one in each hull. There are 8.5 tons of lithium-ion batteries in the ship's two hulls. The boat's shape allows it to reach speeds of up to 10 knots (19 km/h). The hull was model tested in wind tunnels and was tank tested to determine its hydrodynamics and aerodynamics.
5.5.2. Wind energy generation in Ocean
Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offshore_wind_power http://www.beachapedia.org/Renewable_Ocean_Energy
A wind generator has the potential to produce power 24 hours a day whether sailing or at anchor. If there is a strong wind, or you are underway, they can usually put out more current than solar panels. Wind generators, however, can be noisy, require regular maintenance and have the potential danger of rotating blades. Wind turbines are common on cruising yachts and can be very well suited to electric boats. There are safety considerations regarding the spinning blades, especially in a strong wind. It is important that the boat is big enough that the turbine can be mounted out of the way of all passengers and crew
under all circumstances, including when alongside a dock, a bank or a pier. In hybrid electric boats, if a boat has an internal combustion engine anyway, then its alternator will provide significant charge when it is running. Two schemes are in use: the combustion engine and the electric motor. Most modern wind power is generated in the form of electricity by converting the rotation of turbine blades into electrical current by means of an electrical generator. A wind turbine can be thought of as an electric fan running in reverse. Wind power is used in large scale wind farms for national electrical grids as well as in small individual turbines for providing electricity in isolated locations. Wind energy is abundant, inexhaustible, widely distributed, and mitigates the greenhouse effect.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
113
Offshore wind turbines are usually "fixed-pole",
In deeper areas, where it is not economically
meaning they are mounted on long vertical support
or technologically feasible to install a tall
structures that are pile-driven into the seafloor, and
enough turbine to reach the seafloor,
extend anywhere up to a few hundred feet to 900
developers are now proposing floating wind
feet above the sea surface.
turbines. Floating turbines can have a
The wind turbines are usually installed in a line or
concrete or steel floating platform, with a
an array or a "wind farm" situated to catch
wind turbine installed on top. The platform
prevailing strong wings, generally about one mile
is connected to the sea floor by multiple
apart. Turbines are connected to each other via
lines and anchors. Turbines are connected
subsurface cables that sit along or below the
to each other via floating cables, and
seafloor, and then connected to the shore by a
connected to the shoreline by a subsurface
larger transmission cable. Once the cable is
transmission cable on the seafloor. Example
connected to onshore electric transmission
of wind farm installed off the coast is of
infrastructure, it travels through power lines.
Scotland.
Offshore turbines require different types of bases for stability, according to the depth of water. To date a number of different solutions exist: -
Most foundations are monopile base 6m in dia, is used in waters up to 30 m deep.
-
Conventional steel jacket structures, as used in the oil and gas industry, in water 20–80 m deep.
-
Gravity base structures, for use at exposed sites in water 20–80 m deep.
-
Tripod piled structures, in water 20–80 m deep.
-
Tripod suction caisson structures, in water 20–80 m deep.
-
Monopiles up to 11 m diameter at 2,000 tonnes can be made, but the largest so far are 1,300 tons which is below the 1,500 tonnes limit of some crane vessels. The other turbine components are much smaller.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
114
The largest offshore wind farm in the world is the Walney Extension in the Irish Sea, 12-miles from Walney Island off the coast of England, which became operational in September 2018. This offshore wind farm includes 87 wind turbines, each standing 670 feet high, covering an area twice the size on Manhattan (56 square miles). In total, the farm has the capacity to produce 659 mw of electricity every day, powering over 590,000 homes. The past decade has experienced
significant growth in the technology of wind turbines. Environmental impact Common environmental concerns associated with offshore wind developments include: -
The risk of seabirds being struck by wind turbine blades or being displaced from critical habitats;
-
The underwater noise associated with the installation process of driving monopile turbines into the seabed;
-
The physical presence of offshore wind farms altering the behaviour of marine mammals, fish, and seabirds with attraction
-
The potential disruption of the nearfield and far field marine environment from large offshore wind projects.
5.5.3. Tidal and Thermal energy from Ocean
Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_thermal_energ y_conversion https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/oce an-energy-could-be-wave-future
Ocean mechanical energy is quite different from ocean thermal energy. Even though the sun
affects all ocean activity, tides are driven primarily by the gravitational pull of the moon, and waves are driven primarily by the winds. As a result, tides and waves are intermittent sources of energy, while ocean thermal energy is fairly constant. A barrage (dam) is typically used to convert tidal energy into electricity by forcing the water through turbines, activating a generator. For wave energy conversion, there are three basic systems: channel systems that funnel the waves into reservoirs; float systems that drive hydraulic pumps; and oscillating water column systems that use the waves to compress air within a container. The map shows where wave energy is most available in oceans around the world. Red areas have the most wave energy and purple the least. Much of wave-rich area is too far from land to be useful for energy converters. Engineers use computer models to find wave “hotspots” closer to shore. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
115
The “carpet” part of his converter is made from a smooth sheet of rubber. It rests near the seafloor, where it can bend and flex right along with the waves. As it moves up and down, it
pushes posts in and out of a piston pump. The pump converts the piston’s movement into electricity, which then travels along a cable to the electric grid. Each hour, he says, “every square meter energy from incoming waves has to be put to use . (After all, that’s how they generate electricity — by converting wave energy into electrical energy.) Energy tapped from the waves will reduce how much energy will remain as the waves continue in toward shore. This type of wave converter uses pressure from the waves as they press against large panels to generate electricity.
of the carpet can get about 2.5 KW [of electricity] out of water near the coast of California.” That’s twice the amount of electricity used each hour by a typical American home. “If we want to get the same power from solar,” Alam says, “we need 14 sqm of solar panels.” That’s 14 times as much! He says a fullsize wave carpet would probably be about 10 m x 20 m long. So it should be
Fishermen in shallow seas often head for muddy areas when rough weather hits. Boats hanging out there are protected from big waves as they ride out a storm. If mud can absorb that much energy, Alam reasoned, then an energy converter that acts like mud should do the same. That would make it extremely efficient at harvesting wave power.
able to generate 500 kilowatts of electricity per hour — enough to power more than 400 homes.
OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY Oceans cover more than 70% of Earth’s surface, making them the world’s largest solar collectors. The sun’s heat warms the surface water a lot more than the deep ocean water, and this temperature difference creates thermal energy. Just a small portion of the heat trapped in the ocean could power the world. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a process that can produce electricity by using the temperature difference between deep cold ocean water and warm tropical surface waters. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
116
OTEC plants pump large quantities of deep cold seawater and surface seawater to run a power
cycle and produce electricity. OTEC is firm power (24/7), a clean energy source, environmentally sustainable and capable of providing massive levels of energy. OTEC theory was first developed in the 1880s and the first bench size demonstration model was constructed in 1926. Currently the world's only operating OTEC plant is in Japan, overseen by Saga University. The resource potential for OTEC is considered to be much larger than for
other ocean energy forms. Up to 88,000 TWh/yr of power could be generated from OTEC without affecting the ocean’s thermal structure. Systems may be either closed-cycle or open-cycle. Closed-cycle OTEC uses working fluids that are typically thought of as refrigerants such as
ammonia or R-134a. These fluids have low boiling points, and are therefore suitable for powering the system’s generator to generate electricity. Opencycle engines use vapor from the seawater itself as the working fluid. OTEC can also supply quantities of cold water as a by-
product. This can be used for air conditioning and refrigeration and the nutrient-rich deep ocean water can feed biological technologies. Another byproduct is fresh water distilled from sea. A heat engine gives greater efficiency when run with a large temperature difference. In the oceans the temperature difference between surface and deep water is greatest in the tropics, although still a modest 20 to 25 °C. It is therefore in the tropics that OTEC offers the greatest possibilities. OTEC has the potential to offer global amounts of energy that are 10 to 100 times greater than other ocean energy options such as wave power. OTEC plants can operate continuously providing a base load supply for an electrical power generation system. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
117
Land-based and near-shore facilities offer three main advantages over those located in deep water. Plants constructed on or near land do not require sophisticated mooring, lengthy power cables, or the more extensive maintenance associated with open-ocean environment. Shelf based - To avoid the turbulent surf zone as well as to move closer to the cold-water resource, OTEC plants can be mounted to the continental shelf at depths up to 100 meters (330 ft). A shelf-mounted plant could be towed to the site and affixed to the sea bottom. This type of construction is already used for offshore oil rigs. Floating OTEC facilities operate off-shore. Although potentially optimal for large systems, floating facilities present several difficulties. The difficulty of mooring plants in very deep water complicates power delivery. Cables attached to floating platforms are more susceptible to damage, especially during storms. Cables at depths greater than 1000 m are difficult to maintain and repair.
5.5.4. Aquaponics Cycle, Biofuel
Source : http://salinewateraquaponics.weebly.com/benefits-anddisadvantages.html https://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/aquaponics https://www.energy.gov/eere/videos/energy-101-algae-fuel
Aquaponics refers to any system that combines conventional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In normal aquaculture, excretions from the animals being raised can accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity. In an aquaponics system, water from an aquaculture system is fed to a hydroponic system where the by-products are broken down by nitrifying bacteria initially into nitrites and subsequently into nitrates that are utilized by the plants as nutrients. Then, the water is recirculated back to the aquaculture system. A
neutral pH from 6.8 to 7.2 is good for the aquaponics garden.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
118
As existing hydroponic and aquaculture farming techniques form the basis for all aquaponic systems, the size, complexity, and types of foods grown in an aquaponic system can vary as much as any system found in either distinct farming discipline. Floating aquaponics systems on polyculture fish ponds have been installed in China in more recent years on a large scale. They are used to grow rice, wheat and canna lily and other crops, with some installations exceeding 2.5 acres (10,000 m2)
Aquaponics consists of two main parts, with the aquaculture part for raising aquatic animals and the hydroponics part for growing plants. Aquatic effluents, resulting from uneaten feed or raising animals like fish, accumulate in water due to the closed-system recirculation of most aquaculture systems. The effluent-rich water becomes toxic to the aquatic animal in high concentrations but this contains nutrients essential for plant growth. Although consisting primarily of these two parts, aquaponics systems are usually grouped into several components or subsystems responsible for the effective removal of solid wastes, for adding bases to neutralize acids, or for maintaining water oxygenation. Typical components include:
- Rearing tank : the tanks for raising and feeding the fish; - Settling basin : a unit for catching uneaten food and detached biofilms, and for settling out fine particulates; - Bio filter : a place where the nitrification bacteria can grow and convert ammonia into nitrates, which are usable by the plants; - Hydroponics subsystem : the portion of the system where plants are grown by absorbing excess nutrients from the water; - Sump : the lowest point in the system where the water flows to and from which it is pumped back to the rearing tanks.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
119
Depending on the sophistication and cost of the aquaponics system, the units for solids removal, biofiltration, and/or the hydroponics subsystem may be combined into one unit or subsystem, which prevents the water from flowing directly from the aquaculture part of the system to the hydroponics part. By utilizing gravel or sand as plant supporting medium, solids are captured and the medium has enough surface area for fixed-film nitrification. The ability to combine biofiltration and hydroponics allows for aquaponic system, in many cases, to eliminate the need for an expensive, separate biofilter.
Plants Many plants are suitable for aquaponic systems, though which ones work for a specific system depends on the maturity and stocking density of the fish. These factors influence the concentration of nutrients from the fish effluent and how much of those nutrients are made available to the plant roots via bacteria. - Green leaf vegetables with low to medium nutrient requirements are well adapted to aquaponic systems, including Chinese cabbage, lettuce, basil, spinach, chives, herbs. - Spinach seedlings, 5 days old, by aquaponics. Other plants, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, have higher nutrient requirements and will do well only in mature aquaponic systems with high stocking densities of fish. - Other species of vegetables that grow well in an aquaponic system include watercress, basil, coriander, parsley, lemongrass, sage, beans, peas, kohlrabi, taro, radishes, strawberries, melons, onions, turnips, parsnips, sweet potato, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, and eggplant as well as the choys that are used for stir fries. Fish (or other aquatic creatures) Filtered water from the hydroponics system drains into a catfish tank for re-circulation. Freshwater fish are the most common aquatic animal raised using aquaponics due to their ability to tolerate crowding, although freshwater crayfish and prawns are also sometimes used. There is a branch of aquaponics using saltwater fish, called saltwater aquaponics. There are many species of warm water and Coldwater fish that adapt well to aquaculture systems. Bacteria Nitrification, the aerobic conversion of ammonia into nitrates, is one of the most important functions in an aquaponic system as it reduces the toxicity of the water for fish, and allows the resulting nitrate compounds to be removed by the plants for nourishment.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
120
ALGACULTURE - BIOFUEL You see, algae, or more correctly, microalgae, are very small aquatic organisms that convert sunlight into energy. Some of these algae store energy in the form of natural oils. Under the right conditions, algae can make a lot of oil that can be converted into biofuels. Algae could potentially produce up to 60 times more oil per acre than land-based plants. As algae have a harvesting cycle
of 1–10 days, their cultivation permits several harvests in a very short time-frame. When burnt, it releases only CO2 and no other harmful gases.
However , it is seen that predators decreased the efficiency and economics just didn’t make sense. Building the ponds in which to grow the algae and providing enough light and nutrients for them to grow proved too expensive, and to make matters worse the oil price has plummeted.
5.5.5. Water and Waste Management
Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaerobic_digestion https://www.epa.gov/anaerobic-digestion/types-anaerobic-digesters http://www.biogas-info.co.uk/about/ad/
In the concept the idea was that rainwater was collected from the roofs to provide the main source for tap water supply because of the amount of rainfall on yearly basis. This can be supported by the fog nest innovation. The design the extensive use of lightweight ETFE roof covering most of the
building as the main rainwater collection surface was applied. The possible business and SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
121
recreational spaces in the radial wave attenuator peer design included also ETFE roofs with design allowing the water collection for same purposes.
Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) is a fluorine-based plastic. It was designed to have high corrosion resistance and strength over a wide temperature range. ETFE is a polymer and its source-based name is poly(ethene-co-tetrafluoroethene). It is also known under its brand name : Tefzel. ETFE has a relatively high melting temperature, excellent chemical, electrical and high-
energy radiation resistance properties. When burned, ETFE releases hydrofluoric acid.
Originally invented by DuPont as an insulation material for the aeronautics industry, ETFE was not initially considered as a main-stream building material, its principle use being as an upgrade for the polythene sheet commonly used for green house polytunnels. ETFE foil is essentially a plastic polymer related to Teflon and is created by taking the polymer resin and extruding it into a thin film. It is largely used as a replacement for glazing due to its high light transmission properties. Transparent windows are created either by inflating two or more layers of foil to form cushions or tensioning into a single skin membrane.
Weighing approximately 1% the weight of glass, single ply ETFE membranes and ETFE cushions are both extremely light weight. This in turn enables a reduction of structural frame work and imposes significantly less dead load on the supporting structure. This reduced requirement for steelwork provides a big cost benefit for clients and is a key benefit when replacing glazing in old structures to meet current building codes e.g. railways station roofs.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
122
WASTE MANAGEMENT - ANEROBIC DIGESTION Anaerobic digestion is a sequence of processes by which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. The process is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste or to produce fuels. Much of the fermentation used industrially to produce food and drink products, as well as home fermentation, uses anaerobic digestion.
The energy solution for the concept is a hybrid solution where both local waste converted with AD digester system to biogas and water concerted with sunlight in to hydrogen is used to produce the needed energy for the floating building and community. The fuels including created biogas and hydrogen is used as a fuel for next generation fuel cell solution called Bloom Box Energy server. As an estimate, two of these servers can produce the needed energy for whole floating building and community. As a security measure the fuelcell can also use the locally greatly used natural gas as fuel.
The innovative use of solar hydrogen energy production as a main power source was based on several research findings showing promising results and development possibilities for 2030 and The technology for splitting water and even bio-waste in to hydrogen has taken many interesting direction lately. The “Waste to Energy System” integrated in to the floating building: The use of biomass like biodegradable municipal waste, black and gray water as possible energy source can be taken into consideration as possible power supply for the floating community concept.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
123
AD was a proven to work well with mixed input like possible sewage, greenery and household biodegradable waste possible in the concept. The actual size of the possible AD reactor compared to the side and demand of the floating building was done by comparison for projects near the same size.
5.5.6. Innovations, Techniques and Technologies To make a sustainable design, new innovations, techniques and technologies inspired from various Projects as studied above should be implemented. Some being already in use and some being Hypothetical, all strategies have been listed out. These are implemented for structural, functional, and energy production, food production , waste management, water collection and other sustainable purposes.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
124
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
125
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
126
6 . ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATE 6.1 ANALYSIS AND INFERENCE
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
127
6.2 LISTING STRATEGIES THAT CAN BE TAKEN INTO DESIGN
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
128
7 . IDENTIFY SITE AND REQUIREMENT 7.1 VARIOUS CONDITIONS WHERE SEASTEADING IS PROPOSED Various top architectural firms have proposed seasteading for various purposes when a Competition was held. This was done by firms as per their view on having advantage either financially or politically or a social need of the hour. Some of them have been listed as follows; Proposing seastead for taking the advantage of fish farming on platforms in international water. This would be contaminant free deep water seafood production using sustainable methods, providing excellent quality and nutritional value Proposed seastead for envisioning what foreign workers could accomplish locating in international waters without having to deal with worker visa restrictions. To check how arbitration and dispute resolution mechanisms may be evolving away from
traditional land- based governments in the near future. To see how seasteads could give children from impoverished backgrounds a second chance at life by creating a school for gifted youth from around the world A platform for testing of aquaculture technologies and models aboard seasteads. Many undeveloped countries miss out on basic requirements like hospitals and education. These can be provided with one time solution and one time investment , that can be used by many coastal regions.
Luxurious or iconic structures such as civic centres, Olympic stadiums, cricket stadium , etc can be shared by many countries and can be transported to required location when held in that particular country rather than every country building one for themselves. Countries that have been in political trouble since years and have been as war zones, have been facing problem with no escape route for migrants. No country is able to take them in with them not being able to sustain their own population and demand for jobs. Seastead platforms can be their escape area and can soon evolve as a community. This also helps us to avoid refugee centres for every country for troubled times. Coastal areas and islands sinking with rise in sea level, e.g., Maldives, Mexican coast, Miami, North America coastal belt (New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlantic city, Charleston, etc) have been displacing lakhs of people every year, turning them into migrants. Now, the economic belt is also being effected. Seastead can be their solution. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
129
7.2 BRIEF – KIRIBATI FLOATING HOUSES Urging for the need of the hour, Kiribati Government releases a call for a seastead proposal for its sinking nation. On spreading awareness of the same, below is a competition brief by Young architects Competitions, Tarawa, in 2019 Source : https://www.youngarchitectscompetitions. com/competition/kiribati-floating-houses
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
130
7.3 JUSTIFICATION OF SITE NAME : TARAWA ATOLL , REPUBLIC OF KIRIBATI TYPE : ISLAND , CAPITAL OF KIRIBATI LOCATION : SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN, PART OF 33 ATOLLS CLIMATIC ZONE : TROPICAL – HOT AND HUMID, OCEANIC CLIMATE. AREA : 811 SQ.KM POPULATION : > 60,000 PPL (1,20,000 IN TOTAL)
2014 was the year that Kiribati islands got their recognition when Ioane Teitiota had applied for an asylum in Newzeland, where the reason was stated to be climate change. Soon after an year he has been departed from the country where they have not recognized that climate change could be an issue. However, The film, Anote's Ark by Matthieu Rytz, looked at the plight of Kiribati and former President Anote Tong who championed the Pacific human rights struggle over climate change. Tong was president of his country between 2003 and 2016. Kiribati is loosing its land, habitat and ecosystem which is their identity itself ! • The 33 islands of Kiribati, of which only 20 are inhabited, are scattered over a vast area of ocean. Kiribati extends 1,800 miles (2,900 km) eastward from the 16 Gilbert Islands, where the population is concentrated, to the Line Islands, of which 3 are inhabited. In between lie the islands of the Phoenix group, which have no permanent population. Total land area is 313 square miles (811 square km). SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
131
• According to the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (previously South Pacific Regional Environment Programme), two small uninhabited Kiribati islets, Tebua Tarawa and Abanuea, disappeared underwater in 1999. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that sea levels will rise by about 50 cm (20 in) by 2100 due to global warming and a further rise would be inevitable. It is thus likely that within a century the nation's arable land will become subject to increased soil salination and will be largely submerged. • The exposure of Kiribati to changes in sea levels is exacerbated by the Pacific decadal oscillation, which is a climate switch phenomenon that results in changes from periods of La Niña to periods of El Niño. This has an effect on sea levels. For example, in 2000 there was a switch from periods of downward pressure of El Niño on sea levels to an upward pressure of La Niña on sea levels, which upward pressure causes more frequent and higher high tide levels. The Perigean spring tide (often called a king tide) can result in seawater flooding low-lying areas
of the islands of Kiribati. As predicted, this would be the first nation to wipe out by 2050 if not taken care. • It is also very unfortunate that no country is ready to take this community as migrants. The Kiribati government has purchased some land in Hawaii, whereas it can accommodate very few people and also it would be a complete shift in their life and lifestyle. Also, this wouldn’t be a true solution. • Their trees have started to submerge and the rocks on the shore have washed away too. This has further increased erosion and has also increased the salinity in water. Further, when these waves hit the edges of the houses, they have contaminated fresh water wells and have also contaminated ground water. This has started to to effect the ecosystem of the island • Most of the staple food is imported from Japan , Newzeland and Singapore. Their own island
produce being mostly sweet, and being unaware of their own traditional dishes has increased diabetic patients. Also, poor sanitation has effected many citizens. All the hospitals are always occupied with patients. • There are very few economy generating sources available on the island. They need to be taught SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
132
other skills and show other sources through which their economy and GDP can grow. • The do not have many sources for producing energy. Barely have electricity and energy provision to all houses. They need to be provided with renewable energy sources. • The island is pretty populated and occupied in every Sq.m; leading to bad sanitation, ventilation
and lighting. Every family has 5 to 6 children. Food produced and imported is not being sufficient. • The island is located very near to the tectonic plate boundaries and thus highly prone to natural calamities like earthquake, tsunami and hurricanes. It also has floods because of heavy rainfall at the same time, draughts too. • Fishing by large countries in the surroundings have cut down the amount of fish in their periphery. This has effected their staple food and also corals. The proposed site has all the above issues that need to be addressed and as soon as possible. Missing any of the aspects above will gradually bring the community down. Thus, to save the community (the ant) that has been effected by the rest of the world
( the elephant) and has been betrayed and abandoned at the need of the hour should be addressed in a sustainable manner . It is the responsibility as a world citizen and as a true architect and environmental designer to address the problems at any level , when it can be solved or be made better by our design proposal. Maamau’s predecessor as president, Anote Tong, had forecast widespread forced
displacement from Kiribati because of rising seas, worsening salinity, and increased vulnerability to disasters. Tong’s administration even bought land in Fiji as a potential new homeland. Maamau has rejected migration as a strategy, arguing studies have shown the islands can survive with the right adaptation measures, and saying the people of Kiribati will not be forced to leave. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
133
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
134
8 . SITE ANALYSIS 8.1 LOCATION AND GEOGRAPHY Kiribati consists of 32 atolls and one solitary island (Banaba), extending into the eastern and
western hemispheres, as well as the northern and southern hemispheres. It is the only country that is situated within all four hemispheres. Banaba (or Ocean Island) is a raised-coral island. It was once a rich source of phosphates, but was exhausted in mining before independence. The rest of the land in Kiribati consists of the sand and reef rock islets of atolls or coral islands, which rise only one or two metres above sea level.
Tarawa (1°20′N, 173°00′E) is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati, in the central Pacific Ocean. It comprises North Tarawa, which has 6,629 inhabitants and much in common with other more remote islands of the Gilberts group, and South Tarawa, which has 56,388 inhabitants as of 2015, half of the country's total population. The atoll was the site of the Battle of Tarawa during World War II. Tarawa is an old Gilbertese form for Te Rawa, meaning “The Passage” (of the Lagoon), because Tarawa is quite a unique atoll in Kiribati with a large ship passage or channel to the lagoon. Drought is frequent, but in normal years rainfall is sufficient to maintain breadfruit, papaya and banana trees as well as coconut and pandanus. Tarawa features a tropical rainforest climate under the Köppen climate classification. The climate is pleasant from April to October, with predominant north-eastern winds and stable temperatures close to 30 °C (86 °F). From November to March, western gales bring rain and occasional cyclones.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
135
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
Map of Tarawa atoll, 1873
The place was not completely isolated. Cannibalism was forcefully banned . Settlers and voyagers from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, have introduced Polynesian and Melanesian cultural aspects. Intermarriage and intense navigation resulted in cultural Homogenisation. Also, made a uniform population.
Cland and chiefs fought, existed in European visitation and colonial era. Few islands were decimated. However the on island only had shark tooth, wooden spears, swords and armours from dense coconut fibre, that they had sentimental connection to.
Civil war
Chance visits by European ships occurred ,while those ships attempted circumnavigations of the world. labour ships with more than 9,000 workers were sent abroad from 1845 to 1895, most of them not returning. 1886 Anglo German agreement, GEIC has wound up in British sphere.
Start contrasting systems of governance between Northern Islands, primarily under chiefly rule (UAE) and the Central and Southern Islands, primarily under the rule of their council of elders (Unimwaane). Only Tabiteuea was ruled by traditional egalitarian society.
Tarawa, Ocean Island, protectorate who was under the Western Pacific High Commission based in Fiji. Banaba, known to Europeans as Ocean Island, was added to the protectorate in 1900. phosphate rock of its soil (discovered in 1900). This ended the contracting of Kanakas workers to farm plantations in Queensland, German Samoa or Central America, with all the needed workers being used in Ocean Island extraction.
Makin atoll, 20 November 1943
1999 Kiribati had their first elections. In 2014, 5460 acres were bought in Fiji by gov, for evacuation 1942- 1974
Japan overtook Gilbert group from 1941. 1943 battle with US marine . Japan feed island in1945 and Tarawa returned to host. Later in 1950- 1960 the island were used by US and UK for nuclear weapon testing. In 1979, Kiribati got its independence. 1908–1942
17th and 18th century
AD 1400
AD 1300
Kiribati was 16 Gilbert islands. Was inhabited by Austronesian peoples speaking the same oceanic language, from North, south ,Nui too tall and fair skinned
It could have been first inhabited by Melanesian people dark skinned, frizzy haired and short in stature. 3000 BC
HISTORY OF KIRIBATI ISLANDS
8.2 HISTORY AND SOCIOLOGY
136
SOUTH COAST OF TARAWA
SURFING AND BOATING IN TARAWA
2005 , LOW TIDE
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
137
2017 , LOW TIDE
HOUSING IN TARAWA (PACKED)
RETREAT IN TARAWA
PRESENT CONDITION OF TARAWA
2017 HIGH TIDE
TARAWA – POST WAR (1943)
US MARINES IN TARAWA
SOCIOLOGY
• DEMOGRAPHICS : The November 2015 census showed a population of 110,136. About 90% lived in the Gilbert Islands, with about 50% of them on South Tarawa, including Betio, the biggest township. Until recently, people lived mostly in villages with populations between 50 and 3,000 on the outer islands. • ETHNICITY :The native people of Kiribati are called I-Kiribati. Ethnically, the I-Kiribati are Oceanians but were often classified as "Micronesians", an ethnicity with no scientific background. Recent archaeological evidence indicates that Austronesians originally settled the islands thousands of years ago. Around the 14th century, Fijians, Samoans, and Tongans invaded the islands, thus diversifying the ethnic range and introducing Polynesian linguistic traits. Intermarriage among all ancestral groups, however, has led to a population reasonably homogeneous in appearance and traditions. • CUISINE : Traditionally, the staple diet of the I-Kiribati was the abundance of seafood and coconuts. Frequent droughts and infertile soil hinder reliable large-scale agriculture, so the islanders have largely turned to the sea for livelihood and subsistence. Starch based carbohydrate sources were not plentiful due to the hostile climate of the atolls with only the northernmost atolls being viable for constant agriculture. The national crop bwabwai was only eaten during special celebrations along with pork. To complement the rather low consumption of carbohydrates in their diets, the IKiribati processed the sap and fruit of the abundant Pandanus and Coconut trees into different beverages and foods such as te karewe (fresh daily sap of the coconut tree) or te tuae (dried pandanus cake) and te kabubu (dried pandanus flour) from pandanus fruit pulp and te kamaimai (coconut sap syrup) from SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
138
• coconut sap. After World War II, rice became a daily staple in most households which is still the case today. Majority of seafood, fish in particular is eaten. sashimi style with either coconut sap, soy sauce or vinegar based dressings in use often combined with chillies and onions. Coconut crabs and mud crabs is traditionally given to breastfeeding mothers, with the belief that it stimulated the production of good quality breastmilk. • HOUSING : Most houses are made of materials obtained from coconut and pandanus trees. In Kiribati, it is observed that they live in the houses which has large shaded roofs and no walls in order to take advantage of cooling effect of the winds. The cultural life of Kiribati inhabitants, the house units are planned as large dwellings, in order to allow accommodation of an entire family (minimum 16 people, nearly 19 people). Every family has 5 to 6 children. the most imposing and most significant building is the maneaba – the meeting house. A large building that has the same purpose as a local town hall. It’s for large meetings, events This
family area
large structure has a roof of thatched pandana leaves, held together by rope made from coconut husks. The roof is impressively high while the edges of the roof sit so low that most people have to bow when entering in the building. This keeps the building as cool as possible and is without doubt, the best place to
Coconut mats are used in building
be in the humid middle of the day. The are also various similar structures called kiakia’s and te buia’s – which are huts usually for households. All the houses have some open backyard or garden space for cooking outside or growing plants or cattle. On the outer surface, coconut mats (woven by locals) are used, that create a jalli effect for cooling. Palm and coconut barks are used as beams and supporting columns. Since all the rocks have washed away with high tides, corals that come to the shore are used to building the retaining wall near the shore. Outdoor kitchen
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
139
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
140
Tokahuean Auriaria, Eita, South Tarawa The Eita Maneaba is dedicated to the “reign of King Auriaria”, a giant king who once lived in Kiribati. It serves as a meeting house for Eita, and like its counterpart in Nuatabu, it is also the place to welcome guests onto the island. Visited by the Royal Family, this original Maneaba has been around ever since 1979, being the third structure on the same, century old, site.
Moan Benebene, Nuatabu, North Tarawa This special Maneaba is used as the welcoming meeting house for guests to North Tarawa. Upon arrival, dignitaries are expected to stop here, first, and participate in a water drinking ritual. Located at the center of the village, it is the second Maneaba and has been built originally in 1979. Although it was the smallest Maneaba surveyed, it was almost completely built using vernacular means.
When the tide is high, the waves enter the community by more than 30m and flood the area. Whereas, people don’t have any space to move further inside. So, their houses get flooded and they loose their livelihood every time. This has washed away rocks on shore, increased erosion and also the salinity of the terrain, effecting ecosystem. This has further contaminated ground water.
When the tide is low, the waves more than 20m away from the houses. This is when the locals collect dead corals that come on to the shore and plant 15 rows of mangroves on the shore, so that at least few remain during high tide and continue to grow to protect the island. >50,000 were planted. especially around the coast and when you see at the east, some trees are falling down cause the waves eroding the coast.
Resilient strategies that have been adopted recently where retaining walls are built dead corals and by planting mangroves on the sea shore. These help in reducing the intensity of waves / tides hitting the shore. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
141
MIGRATION
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
142
• RELIGION : Christianity is the major religion in Kiribati, having been introduced by missionaries in the 19th century. The population is predominantly Catholic (57.3%), with Protestant denominations (Kiribati Protestant Church, then Kiribati Uniting Church) accounting for 31.3%. • HEALTH : Each family has 5 to 6 children. Overcrowding provokes a great amount of pollution, worsening the quality and length of life. Due to insufficient sanitation and water filtration systems, worsened by the fragility of the water lens of the atolls and by Climate Change, only about 66% have access to clean water. Waterborne diseases grow at record levels throughout the islands.
Poor sanitation has led to an increase in cases of conjunctivitis, diarrhea, dysentery, and fungal infections. Around 60% of adults smoke tobacco products on a regular basis, the highest proportion in the world. Due to this and other lifestyle diseases, such as diabetes, there has been a drastic spike in amputations on the islands, doubling in a few years. Thus, the population of Kiribati has a quite low life expectancy at birth of 68.46 years. Government expenditure on health was at US$268 per capita (PPP) in 2006. Most health problems are related to consumption of semiraw seafood, limited food storage facilities, and bacterial contamination of fresh water supplies. In the early 2000s, between 1 and 7% of the population, depending on the island, were annually treated for food poisoning in a hospital. • MUSIC : Kiribati folk music is generally based on chanting or other forms of vocalising, accompanied by body percussion. Public performances in modern Kiribati are generally performed by a seated chorus, accompanied by a guitar. There are also stick dances which accompany legends and semi-historical stories.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
143
• DANCE : The uniqueness of Kiribati when compared with other forms of Pacific island dance is its emphasis on the outstretched arms of the dancer and the sudden birdlike movement of the head.
Most dances are in the standing or sitting position with movement limited and staggered. • EDUCATION : Primary education is free and compulsory for the first six years, now being extended to nine years (from 6 to 14 years). Mission schools are slowly being absorbed into the government primary school system. Higher education is expanding;
students may seek technical, teacher or marine training, or study in other countries. Most choosing to do the latter have gone to Fiji to attend the University of the South Pacific, and those wishing to complete medical training have been sent to Australia, New Zealand or Cuba. • SPORT : Kiribati has competed at the Commonwealth Games since 1998 and the Summer Olympics since 2004. It sent three competitors to its first Olympics, two sprinters and a weightlifter. Football is the most popular sport. Kiribati Islands Football Federation (KIFF) is an associate member of the Oceania Football Confederation, but not of world-governing body FIFA.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
144
8.3 CLIMATIC CONDITIONS AND CALAMITIES The climate is pleasant from April to October, with predominant north eastern winds and stable
temperatures close to 30 °C (86 °F). From November to March, western gales bring rain. From May to November, there are more gentle winds and currents and less rain. Then towards December, the season of sudden westerly winds and more heavy rain discourages any far travel from island to island. Kiribati does not experience cyclones but effects may occasionally be experienced during cyclone seasons affecting nearby Pacific Island countries such as Fiji. Tarawa features a tropical rainforest climate under the Köppen climate classification. The climate is pleasant from April to October, with predominant north eastern winds and stable temperatures close to 30 °C (86 °F). From November to March, western gales bring rain and occasional cyclones. Precipitation varies significantly between islands. For example, the annual average is 3,000 mm (120 in) in the north and 500 mm (20 in) in the south of the Gilbert Islands. Most of these islands are in the dry belt of the equatorial oceanic climatic zone and experience prolonged droughts.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
145
Due to the sea surface heating and cooling various effects like El Nino and La Nina occur. El Niño (EN) is characterized by a large scale weakening of the trade winds and warming of the surface layers in the eastern and central equatorial Pacific Ocean. El Niño events occur irregularly at intervals of 2-7 years, although the average is about once every 3-4 years. El Niño and La Niña episodes typically last 9-12 months. They both tend to develop during the spring (March-June), reach peak intensity during the late autumn or winter (November-February), and then weaken during the spring or early summer (March-June). They simultaneously result in rise and decrease in sea level too. These winds and change in surface temperature have also shown effect on Tarawa, the Kiribati islands.
The wind-wave climate of Kiribati shows only a little spatial variability across the region despite its large extent. Waves in the Gilbert Islands are strongly characterised by trade winds, with waves coming from the north-east to east in December–March and the east and south-east during June–September. the south-east coast of Tarawa, waves are characterised by variability of the trade winds, both north and south, with some swell from extra-tropical storms. During the northern trade wind season, December–March, waves at Tarawa have a slightly larger height and longer period than in other months (mean height around 1.8 m and period around 8.7 s. In the southern trade wind season, June–September, waves have a slightly shorter period (mean around 8.3 s) and lower height (mean around 1.4 m) than December–March. as well as trade wind induced swell, and some swell propagating from extratropical storms in the North Pacific and Southern Ocean. Waves larger than 2.5 m (99th percentile) occur usually from the eastnortheast, in any month, with some large west and north-westerly waves due to extra-tropical storms in the north Pacific in northern winter months.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
146
Mean annual cycle of wave height (grey) and mean wave direction (blue) at the south-east of Tarawa in hind cast data (1979–2009). To give an indication of inter annual variability of the monthly means of the hind cast data, shaded boxes show 1 standard deviation around the monthly means, and error bars show the 5–95% range. The direction from which the waves are travelling is shown (not the direction towards which they are travelling).
Mean wave height, period and direction from which the waves are travelling around Kiribati in December–March and June– September.
PROJECTED DATA FOR FUTURE ESTIMATES
The wind-wave climate displays inter annual variability at both Tarawa and Kiritimati, varying with the El Niño– Southern Oscillation (ENSO). During La Niña years, wave power at Tarawa is around 35% greater than during El Niño years in June–September but slightly less in December–March, with waves more strongly directed from the east, associated with increased trade wind speeds. El Niño events occur irregularly at intervals of 2-7 years, although the average is about once every 3-4 years.
Historical and simulated surface air temperature time series for the region surrounding the Kiribati Gilbert Group (top). The graph shows the anomaly (from the base period 1986–2005) in surface air temperature from observations (the GISS dataset, in purple), and for the CMIP5 models under the very high (RCP8.5, in red) and very low (RCP2.6, in blue) emissions scenarios. The solid red and blue lines show the smoothed (20-year running average) multi-model mean anomaly in surface air temperature, while shading represents the spread of model values (5–95th percentile).
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
147
Mean annual cycle of change in wave height between projection scenarios and historical models in the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati. This plot shows a decrease in wave heights in the northern trade winds season (December–March) (significant in February in all projections), and no change in the southern trade winds months of June–September.
Observed time series of annual average values of mean air temperature (red dots and line) and total rainfall (bars) at Tarawa. Light blue, dark blue and grey bars denote El Niño, La Niña and neutral years respectively. Solid black trend lines indicate a least squares fit.
Annual and half-year trends in air temperature (Tmax, Tmin, Tmean) and rainfall at Tarawa and Kiritimati. The 95% confidence intervals are shown in brackets. Values for trends significant at the 5% level are shown in boldface.
The regional distribution of projected sea level rise under the RCP4.5 emissions scenario for 2081–2100 relative to 1986–2005. Mean projected changes are indicated by the shading, and the estimated uncertainty in the projections is indicated by the contours (in cm).
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
148
Projected changes in the annual and seasonal mean climate for Kiribati Gilbert Group under four emissions scenarios; RCP2.6 (very low emissions, in dark blue), RCP4.5 (low emissions, in light blue), RCP6 (medium emissions, in orange) and RCP8.5 (very high emissions, in red). Projected changes are given for four 20-year periods centred on 2030, 2050, 2070 and 2090, relative to a 20year period centred on 1995. Values represent the multi-model mean change, with the 5–95% range of uncertainty in brackets. Confidence in the magnitude of change is expressed as high, medium or low. Surface air temperatures in the Pacific are closely related to sea-surface temperatures (SST), so the projected changes to air temperature given in this table can be used as a guide to the expected changes to SST
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
149
CALAMITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS Rise in sea level, water temperature – rise in sea level = 5 to 10mm/ year
Precipitation and radiation – both being high, they result in storms = 6 to 8mm per day; 40 to 70 w/sq.m
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
150
Ocean current and wind direction
= winds from North East and East, some from west
By trade winds, with waves coming from the north-east to east in December–March and the east and south-east during June–September. the south-east coast of Tarawa, waves are characterised by variability of the trade winds, both north and south, with some swell from extra-tropical storms.
Earthquake zones and intensities = sea depth - 2674 to 3383 m
Salinity levels of sea water = 34.8 to 35 pss
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
151
SUMMARY
Wave height = 2.5m Any month, at times
North-east to East December–March
Wave height = 1.8m December - March
Wave height = 1.4m June - September
East and South east June- September • • • • •
Average high temp = 30.9 deg C Average low temp = 25.3 deg C Daily mean temp = 28.3 deg C Record high temp = 35 deg C Record low temp = 21 deg C
• Rains at least 10 days a month • Avg annual precipitation = 2052mm • Monthly Highest rainfall = 271mm (15 days - Jan) • Monthly Lowest rainfall = 110mm (11 days – Oct) • Average relative humidity = 80% • Rise in sea level = 5 to 10 mm/yr
• • • • •
Mean daily sunshine hours = 7.4hrs Mean monthly sunshine hours (year) = 2688 hrs Monthly high sunshine hours = 260 hrs (Oct) Monthly low sunshine hours = 189 hrs (Dec) Ocean integrated heating = 40 to 70 w/sq.m
• • • • •
north-east to east in December–March east and south-east during June–September December–March, waves – larger height = 1.8m June–September, waves – lower height = 1.4m Waves larger than 2.5 m – north east (occur usually in any month) • Salinity level = 34.8 to 35 pss.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
152
8.4 ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY According to the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (previously South Pacific
Regional Environment Programme), two small uninhabited Kiribati islets, Tebua Tarawa and Abanuea, disappeared underwater in 1999. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that sea levels will rise by about 50 cm (20 in) by 2100 due to global warming and a further rise would be inevitable. It is thus likely that within a century the nation's arable land will become subject to increased soil salination and will be largely submerged. It will be the first nation to be washed away due to rise in sea level. The Perigean spring tide (often called a king tide) can result in seawater flooding low-lying areas of the
islands of Kiribati. The high tides can rise up to 1.6m in height (Tarawa elevation =3m).
The Climate Change in the Pacific Report of 2011 describes Kiribati as having a low risk of cyclones; however in March 2015 Kiribati experienced flooding and destruction of seawalls and coastal infrastructure as the result of Cyclone Pam, a Category 5 cyclone that devastated Vanuatu. Kiribati remains exposed to the risk that cyclones can strip the low-lying islands of their vegetation and soil. However, if the increase in sea level occurs at a rate faster than coral growth, or if polyp activity is damaged by ocean acidification, then the resilience of the atolls and reef islands is less certain. Also, coral bleaching has occurred on more than 60% of the coral reefs in the Maldives. Initiatives include improving water supply management in and around Tarawa; coastal management protection measures such as mangrove re-plantation and protection of public infrastructure; strengthening laws to reduce coastal erosion; and population settlement planning to reduce personal risks. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
153
ECOLOGY Because of the relatively young geological age of the islands and atolls and high level of soil
salination, the flora of Kiribati is somehow unhealthy. The Gilbert Islands contain about 83 indigenous and 306 introduced plants. None of these species are endemic, and about half of the indigenous ones have a limited distribution and became endangered or nearly extinct due to human activities such as phosphate mining.
Coconut, pandanus palms and breadfruit trees are the most common wild plants, whereas the five most cultivated crops but the traditional Babai, Cyrtosperma merkusii, are
imported Chinese cabbage, pumpkin, tomato, watermelon and cucumber. Over eighty per cent of the population participates in either farming or fishing.
Seaweed farming is an important part of the economy, with two major species Eucheuma alcarezii and Eucheuma spinosium introduced to the local lagoons from the Philippines in 1977. It competes with collection of the black-lipped pearl oyster (Pinctada margaritifera) and shellfish, which are dominated by the strombid gastropod (Strombus luhuanus) and Anadara cockles (Anadara uropigimelana), whereas the stocks of the giant clam (Tridacna gigas) have been largely exhausted.
Kiribati Corals that are bleaching
1000’s of Coconut trees
Tridacna gigas (exhausted)
Kiribati has a few land mammals, none being indigenous or endemic. They include the Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans), dogs, cats and pigs. Among the 75 bird species, the Bokikokiko (Acrocephalus aequinoctialis) is endemic to Kiritimati. There are 600–800 species of inshore and pelagic finfish, some 200 species of corals and about 1000 species of shellfish. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
154
8.5 ECONOMY GENERATION STRATEGIES • Until 1979, when Banaba’s deposit of phosphate rock was exhausted, Kiribati’s economy depended heavily on the export of that mineral. Before the cessation of mining, a large reserve fund was accumulated; the interest now contributes to government revenue. • Other revenue earners are copra, mostly produced in the village economy. • Making palm sugar is an other source of local income. The island holds 1000’s of palm trees. The branch is cut and its sap milk is collected. This milk is added with water and heated till it produces palm sugar. 7 litres of sap can produce
Mining for Phosphate
1kg of palm sugar which is sold for 5 Euros. Palm sugar is very unique and is sold world wide. This is now being funded by Thailand government (pays for equipment) for production on large scale . • license fees from foreign fishing fleets, including a special tuna-fishing agreement with the European Union. An Exclusive Economic Zone of 3,500,000 square km is
Copra exporting for revenue
claimed. • Commercial seaweed farming has become an important economic activity. • A small manufacturing sector produces clothing, furniture, and beverages for domestic consumption and sea salt for export.
Commercial seaweed farming
• The country’s proximity to the Equator makes it a desirable location for satellite telemetry and spacecraft-launching facilities; several national and transnational space authorities have built or have proposed building facilities on the islands or in surrounding waters. Such projects bring capital, additional employment, and infrastructure improvements, but Kiribati continues to depend on foreign aid for most capital
Satellite telemetry- spacecraft
and development expenditure. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
155
• Food accounts for about one-third of all imports, most of which come from Australia, Japan, and Singapore; Japan and Thailand are the major export destinations. • Although South Tarawa has an extensive wage economy, most of the people living on outer islands are subsistence farmers with small incomes from copra, fishing, or handicrafts. These are supplemented by remittances from
Importing food and other needs
relatives working elsewhere. • Kiribati is a country that is full of amazing weavers, artists, skilled fishermen, dynamic architects and structural engineers. The buildings, fishing equipment, household items, techniques and skills are so unique to Kiribati – and each of them responds perfectly to the way of life that is lived in the islands. focus on are the women’s weaving skills. From coconut tree leaves, pretty much every I-
Commercial fishing in Kiribati economic zone
Kiribati woman can make mats, toys, baskets, hats, clothing, fans ,etc. The skills that are passed down through the generations are so unique to Kiribati culture and again the quality is awesome Interisland shipping is provided by the government, and most islands are linked by a domestic
air service. Tarawa and Kiritimati have major airports. • Tarawa has a marine training centre (150ppl) where they are trained as seafarers, mechanics and cocks mostly for Germen vessels and also sent to other parts of the world. 6
Kiribatian’s skills to make baskets, mattresses, furniture, etc with coconut leaves
shipping companies from Hamburg have offices here. The training period lasts for 15 months and once they start working, they make about 750 US$ per month; through
which the family in Kiribati can have a moderate livelihood. • Kiribati is most famous for its world class fly-fishing, scuba diving and astounding seabird wildlife. However, it has a
Marine training Institute, Tarawa
relatively low basic needs poverty rate (23%) compared to other pacific nations. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
156
8.6 ANTHROPOMETRY AND ERGONOMICS ANTHROPOMETRY
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
157
ERGONOMICS • Since it is a small island with the community evolving within, and the families are huge, they all live together and know almost everyone around. Ladies get together during their skill work performance. • Having a very hot and humid climate, with rainfall almost everyday, people feel more comfortable with open plan and no walls. Literally live outside and cook outside. The base of the house is lifted up to avoid flooding and fungus development , deteriorating the structure.
• Since there is a storm atleast once in a month, the platform is raised above the ground level. However, when the san below erodes, that creates a problem for the structure too. • Due to large hours of direct sunlight and radiation from the reflective sea, there will a lot of heat trapped inside a structure. Thus, Hipped roofs with large heights are made for good ventilation and air circulation.
• People are more comfortable to sleep on coconut leaf mats than on mattresses as they trap heat at any hour of the day, Also, high humidity spoils mattress. • They prefer to cook openly either sitting on ground or at chair level. Thus, kitchen platforms are lower in height. • People so skill work together in community halls sitting on ground together. These community
halls even more higher roofs and huge open plan. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
158
9 . SIMULATIONS FOR CONCEPT EVOLUTION 9.1 FORM DERIVATION - SIMULATIONS MACRO DESIGN Building form should be designed
as per the climatic conditions and functionality of a place.
Specifically in this case, building should be designed as per the wind direction, velocity and the harsh temperatures. Also, the harsh
weather conditions and the calamities that the buildings and shore face should be considered.
Mangrove trees plantation on the shore can cut down the wave height by more than 90% . This can
prevent high tides, king wave, hurricane wave damage and tsunamis and shore sand erosion, and thus, stop sinking of the island.
A width of 5.5’ stretch of mangroves can cut down the wave height by 90% SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
159
SHAPE
WAVE MOVEMENT
WIND MOVEMENT
WIND SIMULATIONS
3D - Hexagon
3D - Pentagon
Pyramid
Cube
Cylinder Analysing elements like wave, wind and wind velocity and deflection, on various building forms, its can be seen that 3D Hexagon and Cylinder seem to be most stable, yet take the advantage of enough daylight and air circulation. On having more edges , and a shape where air can easily flow along the form, it will be more resistant to any hurricanes and strong storm winds. Also, any flood water that enters the premises should be able to flow away easily rather than putting all the pressure on one face of the structure. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
160
On Kiribatis epw file not being available, Fiji of very similar climatic conditions was
MICRO DESIGN considered to perform simulations, to achieve the form required, in climatic analysis
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
161
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
162
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
163
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
164
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
165
9.2 QUALITATIVE SURVEY OF KIRIBATI AND TARAWA The following data has been collected based on the research of Kiribati's sociology study, their views and ideas. This has been mainly achieved from the documentaries on Kiribati. Source : 1. Landscape and Identity in Kiribati – by Jana Gheuens (Master’s thesis in Global Environmental History) , 2. “Kiribati : a drowning paradise in the South Pacific” by Marcus Henssler. Q: Why do you think Kiribati is sinking ? Global warming is causing glaciers and ice sheets to melt. The average sea level has risen 3.2 mm/year since 1993. Since few years, there had been King wave attacking the shore which has been washing out maximum of the shore stretch. Also, there is a storm every month eroding the shore and high tides washing the shore.
Q: Seeing the present condition of Island, when would the island experience a complete washout? In 30- 40 years it is predicted by the UN that the island would sink completely and disappear. That’s because the average elevation is less than two meters above sea level.
Q: Family size in Kiribati ? Every family almost has 12 to 15 people, where every couple has 4 to 5 children. Most families stay together and also since the place is very small, everybody knows everybody within the community. We still prefer to live together.
Q: What do u think about migrating from your country?
We respect our tribe and love our country. We have evolved with our own form of living. We do not want to migrate. Migrating is like a second life elsewhere and we would never get that importance elsewhere. The world should understand the responsibility of it. ‘migration with dignity’ is what's required.
Q: What is that Kiribatis mostly consume as food? It is copra / coconut, shellfish, fish, pork, bread fruit, pandanus, papaya. Imported food are
Rice, corned beef and canned meat (luxury). Chinese restaurants that sell food like fried rice and chicken curry. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
166
Q: what is the main source of income? A type of dried coconut flesh, and fish. The country gets budget from international aid. The first one is the most popular one, selling copra to dry and make it into coconut oil. A bag of one kilo copra gives them 2 dollars. The second way people can earn some money is by selling fish that they have caught. When taking a plane or a boat people often send dry fish with someone to be sold on Tarawa. There are also for example teachers or government officials who earn a monthly salary. However, they often still help collect food for their families
Q. Why is it difficult for Kiribati to adopt ? Densely populated islands such as Tarawa, do not have the same capacity to react to changes
since they have many permanent structures that lock them in place. Families own land that has been passed on through generations before them. This makes moving houses to the other side of the island very difficult.
Q. Why is Tarawa being the first to sink ? Often when one side of an island is being washed away, the other side will grow. Important to note here is that this is the case for islands that do not have a lot of permanent structures on
them. Densely populated islands such as Tarawa, do not have the same capacity to react to changes since they have many permanent structures that lock them in place.
Q. What Is the everyday life of a Kiribati ? “I wake up, do the clean up around the house and boil the water for the breakfast with the coconut. We have breadfruit in our home so we collect the breadfruit, then some shellfish.” they mentioned two ways they were able to earn some money. This quote shows us that many
people on the outer islands still collect their own food, regardless if they have a job or not. As Teraoi mentioned, collecting food and fishing is important to sustain the whole family.
On Tarawa less people are able to live this way due to space issues. high population density of the island does not have enough jobs. which leads to a big problem of unemployment and of youth unemployment. The government is trying to give people incentives to move back to their original island by raising the price of the copra but not everyone possesses traditional skills
anymore, causing them not to be able to go back to their home island.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
167
Q: what is the connection between Kiribati’s an nature ? “I wake up in the morning, no breakfast, go straight to the bush to collect the pandanus to make the roof and come back to boil water, look for the coconut and boil the rice. Eat it. And then go to the sea to catch some fish. Then boil rice, cook with the fish, eat it for lunch. And the same in the afternoon, we go to the papaya pits and cultivate it.”6 We can learn from this quote that I-Kiribati get their daily food and their materials to build their houses from their immediate surroundings, creating a deep connection with nature.
Q: what is their main source of information and mas media ? It is mostly the radio as most of the families are poor. However, internet is available.
Q: Other issues in Kiribati (multiple interviews ) ? • Mainland has a lot of ponds, which result in breeding of mosquitoes. There are many mosquitoes in the mainland and thus, people prefer to stay on coastal area even though its eroding. • When the sea inundation occurs, it kills all the papaya, bananas and people move to the inland because of sea erosion. • not only on land producing enough food is getting harder but also resident are having more trouble catching enough fish to support • Where plants and trees used to be green and healthy, now they are brown and too dry. • Because people can now just go to the store to buy some food like rice and flour, now they do not depend solely on their environment for their survival. This leads to the fact that less people are now planting and collecting their own food. • the high tide is coming more nowadays and that’s because the climate change. And the sun is very hot. • most of the trees are planted a long time ago. There are no new trees. This lack of regeneration could potentially be a problem in the future when the trees die or when they become too high to climb. • Now every house are packed together and everyone lives closely to each other. You have little space and you have little privacy. And people living together, with the usage of water just dumping it everywhere, it makes the place untidy and not a pleasant place to live. • “Because everywhere is so populated and there is not enough space for the toilets. Some people they don’t have a toilet so they go to the sea and that makes it unhygienic. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
168
• “Because everywhere is so populated and there is not enough space for the toilets. Some people they don’t have a toilet so they go to the sea and that makes it so disgusting and so unhygienic. • youth, it drives them to do mischievous things and it’s sad that here in Tarawa there have been a lot of people who have been doing things like abusing people. Maybe they are
stressed because they don’t have jobs so it leads to a lot of things, problems. well needs to be properly covered to avoid parasites and bacteria and also too much sunlight. • on Kiribati we have a limestone soil. atoll islands are very thin, low and their soil consists mostly of coral and sand. so there is not a lot of water and the seawater pollutes it. There is nowhere to go for us. worried about the long drought that we are facing now. do not have enough catchment to catch the water during the rainy days to last during the dry seasons
Q: Institutes and other centres present in Kiribati ? • Marine training Institute, takes 150 students every year , where the men are trained as crew members on a ship and cooks, for 6 months. • Health Retreat, an organization that gives workshops on health and that treats people who have for example diabetes. They also rent out of some of the rooms for guests visiting • maneabas, or community centres. Some of these maneabas were also linked to local maneabas in the outer islands.
• Nursing school in Tarawa.
Q: Who are the problem solvers ? a community is made up of different associations, i.e., village association and the church association. Activities and roles are different for these associations. When the village association meet in the maneaba, they discuss things that need to be done in the village, building a house as an example. Ultimately it is the leader of the village association, often an elder, who decides on what activities will be carried out.
Q: reasons for not wanting to migrate ? Many expressed fears of moving to a different country because they have never been overseas. They worry that they will not know how to do things because life is so different. “We think about moving but how to survive there if we don’t know how to find our food or our job in another country.” we would end up begging on the streets. Also love disappears. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
169
Q: Why is the population so high in Kiribati ? unemployment is mostly a problem for people living in Tarawa, on the outer islands they have different ways of taking care of themselves. “Many of them get married because they have nothing else to do. And so when they get married they quickly have children and the population gets high and these children are brought up by very young children who are not even ready to get married.”
Q: Main problems with unemployment ? Unemployed people become dependent on their relatives. The first problems arises when young couples gets children. They are often not ready to take care of children yet; as they are both still young themselves and they do not have jobs. Often the relatives that are supporting the unemployed youth are put under more stress, as now they have to take care of even more people. A second problem is that unemployment causes emotional and social stress. Ieru connects people getting bored and frustrated with people that start drinking, which then often leads to abuse and violence
Q: How is the education system? The education system today is very much focused on “Western science” and not on Kiribati science. “We educate our children without skills. We take them all the way to form 7 without having one skill. And a skill can be cooking like to become a chef or a pastry maker or a tailor who can sow or a fisherman. When I say a skill a real good skill apart from the from learning whatever subjects they are learning in high school the students must have a skill because if they couldn’t make it in high school form 7 and they drop out, they couldn’t make it in university they already have a skill with them and that skill they can use for their own self employment.”
Q: How would seasteading be a solution?
It would firstly helps us in staying in our country and continue to stick to our culture and our way of living. Simultaneously, we would be able to develop new sources of income and join the world economy. Designing would also help us to adopt to the rising sea levels and the ocean weather that has turned harsh.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
170
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
171
Limited land space & overcrowding
Unemployment
Coastal Erosion
ISSUES
Inadequate employment opportunities Too many job seekers
Population growth – migration of people from outer islands to South Tarawa Children born on South Tarawa Space taken up by rubbish and rusting vehicles and containers Churches through their groups occupy a lot of land with their group maneabas Sea water filling up land spaces because of coastal erosion
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
aggregate mining seawall construction causeway construction land reclamation
• • • •
PROBABLE CAUSES
lack of privacy Rise in disputes over land boundaries Not enough fruits and vegetables; Dirty and unhealthy lifestyles and environments Rise in crime, unwanted pregnancies, (single teenagers) mothers Not enough recreation centres, playing courts and fields Abuse of the custom of Bubuti Low income families struggle and many owe a lot to shops and to money lenders Lack of funds for school fess and utilities Stress in families, depression, alcohol abuse, domestic violence Risks of contamination of water resources (because of informal settlement) Poverty is on the rise
• •
•
•
•
•
• •
•
•
•
Growing poverty People getting into debt Buying on credit from shops (taarau)
reduction of landmasses at some areas loss of Bwabwai pits and fruit trees water sources affected
• • •
•
•
•
SOCIETAL IMPACT
•
•
•
•
•
• • • •
Control of migration of people to South Tarawa Developments to move to outer islands Land management and sound urban development planning.
Enhance economic conditions and develop local industries Develop private sector
mangrove planting limit aggregate mining properly designed seawalls opening up of causeways
REMEDIAL ACTION
SUMMARY OF TARAWA QUANTITATIVE SURVEY
•
•
• • • • •
costly but can be sustained
sustainable
sustainable questionable can be sustainable expensive but sustainable costly but sustainable
SUSTAINABILITY (EFFECTIVENESS)
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
172
Water management
Reduction in Marine and Resources
ISSUES
Growing population, Bonriki water lens has already exceeded its sustainable yield Drought Poor water management and engineering Toilet pits, flush toilets and septic tanks in poor condition; Bacteria, chemicals, and heavy metal in water lens Leaking seawater pipes
•
•
•
• •
•
•
•
overfished by TUC/BTC fishermen variety of fishing gears by fishermen unregulated harvest of resources gang and family fishing for cash revenue;
•
PROBABLE CAUSES
•
•
• •
•
•
•
• • •
• •
•
•
•
•
Not enough clean water for everyone less ground water vegetation and fruit trees affected contamination of underground water Inadequate supply of water
discrepancy of islanders’ attitude toward conservation limited marine resources for them to live and fish lobsters and octopus decline in numbers bone fish and finfish decline from heavy and non-stop fishing shellfish – te bun depleted cone shell – tenouo overharvested red snapper decline te mania, tekoikoi decline all sea cucumber species depleted Not enough fruits and vegetables People rely a lot on imported food from shops
SOCIETAL IMPACT
•
•
• •
•
•
• •
•
Desalination concrete cisterns to be built that can withstand long droughts watering systems to be in place aluminium or tin roofing for residents for tanks
by-law to protect fishing grounds identification of identities a well constructed management plan and regulatory measures draft bill for protected species and areas demarcation of fishing zones
REMEDIAL ACTION
•
•
• • •
long term plan and costly but can be sustainable
take time to effect take time to effect on the way, but questionable in terms of effectiveness can work if all parties agree
SUSTAINABILITY (EFFECTIVENESS)
9.3 QUANTITATIVE SURVEY OF KIRIBATI AND TARAWA Q: What is the Population increase rate in Kiribati ?
Q: What is the Life expectancy in Kiribati ?
Q: what is the revenue produced by Kiribati ?
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
173
Q: How many are experiencing the problem of climate change in Kiribati? 94% Households - impacted by environmental hazards in 10 years 81% Households - were affected by sea level rise over 10 years Q: Percentage of people who want to migrate ? In the decade preceding the survey, almost 10,000 people wanted to migrate but could not. The most common reasons for not migrating was a lack of money, accounting for 75 per cent of unrealized migration ambitions. This financial issue was more pronounced in the outer islands,
where it explains almost 90 per cent of unrealized movements. Q: How many believe that they can migrate ? If the environmental situation deteriorates, Over 70 per cent of households believe this course of action will be necessary if sea level rise, saltwater intrusion, agricultural yields and floods worsen. However, despite this desire for migration, only 24 per cent of households believe they
possess the means to finance migration, and only 26 per cent thought they could acquire the documents necessary to migrate. As a result, it is possible that a large number of I-Kiribati will be unable to migrate despite the perception of an increased necessity to move. Q: How is Tarawa different from other islands ?
Q: which months have the highest rainfall ?
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
174
Q: Age group of people living in Kiribati ?
Fertility rate (TFR) was estimated at 3.9 children per women in 2010. The young populations is illustrated by the fact that 36 per cent of the population is below the age of 15 and only 5 per cent are 60 years or older (ibid.). The working age population represents 58 per cent of the total population and the median age was 21.6 in 2010 (Kiribati Census, 2010). Q: what is unemployment rate in Kiribati ? The overall labour force participation rate in Kiribati was 60 %, while youth unemployment amounts to 54 %. In 2006 (the latest available data) the percentage of the population living below the poverty line was 21.8 % Q: what is the GDP per capita of Kiribati ?
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
175
Q: Households affected by natural
Q: Reason for migration ? What is given the highest preference?
hazards in Tarawa?
Q: what is the GDP per capita of Kiribati ?
Q: Type of constraints for migration ?
• King tide • No government help (funding) • Unemployment , especially among young people • Lack of toilets • Overcrowded homes • Rubbish (waste management) • Domestic fights • Overcrowded homes, due to arriving immigrants • Health problems such as diabetes • Domestic fights • Security problems with migrants • Lack of water because of salt intrusion • Alcohol causing violence • Bad roads • Floods and high tide SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
176
Q: What is the criteria to be fulfilled for migration ?
Q: What is the criteria for perceived ability to migrate ?
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
177
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
178
10 . DESIGN GUIDELINES 10 .1 IN TERMS OF SEASTEADING As per the previous study, and qualitative and quantitative survey of seasteading. The following guidelines have been prepared. Source : The Floating City Project Research Conducted between March 2013 and March 2014 , by the Seasteading Institute. • It is seen that seasteading should cost around 500$ per sft. But should be designed in a low cost method to further decrease the cost, when addressing for poor countries. • Area of 1bedroom, 1 bath and 1 kitchen with living room/dining room/study area can be of 900 sft. • Desired location of seastead is where the location is less harsh • Should be able to satisfy the need of food, housing and community. Also, generate new source of income and self resilient and self reliant sources. • Typically the depth of a wave is equal to half the wavelength, which means that a 200m long wave will tend to get shorter and higher if the depth is smaller than 100 meters. When the wave approaches to the coast, more and more energy is pushed upward and the wave becomes steeper and less stable until it breaks, at wave height greater than 80 percent of the water depth. Around 3km away from the shore, where no waves yet start at the shore. • Having at least 15m depth from the sea bed makes it work more practically. • Age group from 24- 29 yrs seem to be the most likable towards seasteading. And most would want too reside in it , fulltime. • Seasteads are most suitable and preferable in a tropical area. • Seasteads are not suitable near Vent pipes and in Ocean dead zones, as they will not be able to survive. Salinity should not be high either. • Even though floating, it should be well anchored to resist the bob up and down movement . • A large structure has a relatively simple mooring system and can be moved quickly. • five important subjects have been identified as current priorities: - future inhabitants’ desires and requirements - location (suitability) - growth and development process - images of the first seastead (concept design) - costs (financial estimate of the concept design) SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
179
Options for Movability The most important design qualities in terms of movability are the speed, safety, and convenience
of the movement. The different possibilities to move a floating structure are directly linked to the size. A large structure has a relatively simple mooring system and can be moved quickly. Smaller scale floating structures have more connections between the city elements and with the ocean floor. t the semi-submersible ship can also transport smaller structures over high seas. The largest semi-submersible ship is the Dockwise Vanguard (Boskalis) which is 70 x 275 m and suitable for extremely heavy loads.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
180
Options for Dynamic Geography On the community level, or individual level this can be achieved by possibilities for moving inside the seastead with one’s own house as an individual, or even moving away from the community with a group of inhabitants. Below are different spatial configurations of floating cities that are evaluated for their ability to achieve dynamic geography. The two most suitable options are the islands and the branch. Both structures consist of a small amount of house connected by bridges or jetties, the branches are connected using a hinged connection. Because of this, both structures can be disconnected easily.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
181
Options for Seakeeping Seakeeping consists of two levels: the ability to survive severe sea conditions in a protected bay and to be able to adapt for survival on the high seas. Major issues on the high seas are the depth, the large (rogue) waves and (tropical) storms. These factors present challenges for mooring, wave breaking and comfort. The cruise ship and the submerged option are not suitable for achieving a high level of comfort for the citizens. The ship experiences too much swell, whereas the submerged has no direct fresh air or sunlight. Therefore the most suitable options are the oilrig and the breakwater structure.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
182
Water experience Water experience in the seastead can be subdivided into visual experience and physical experience. The first experience is primarily concerned with residents’ ability to see the water. The second experience includes swimming, sailing, diving, aquaculture, and perhaps even surfing. Living in a neighborhood close to the water would be preferable to an oilrig or a cruise ship where the connection to the water is only visual, from a large distance. Only the large platform is not suitable. In all other options, the smaller the platform the better the water experience. The island and branch options have the best water experience because the distance to the water is the smallest and all houses have a direct relation with the water.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
183
Scenarios of relocation
A hurricane’s destructive winds and rains can extend outward from 40 km to more than 240 km. The force of a tropical storm can extend up to 500 km from the eye of the hurricane. Once a hurricane has formed is can be tracked and its path predicted for 3-5 days in advance. Using a bad case scenario of a hurricane scale five and a prediction of 24 hours in advance. In this time all platforms should be disconnected, one or more tugboats should arrive on short notice and the platforms should be placed in formation to be tugged away. A tugboat can reach a speed up to 12 knots, but in case of heavy currents 6 knots (11 km / hour) is used. This would mean that getting away from hurricane destructive winds would take 21 hours and 3 hours would be left for all the other tasks. To get away from the tropical storm force zone requires another 24 hours
Overview conditions
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
184
Estimation of platform size
The ideal size of individual platforms will depend on many factors such as objectives, location characteristic and other factors like
financial and construction limitations. It can be concluded that the size of the platform would ideally range between 45 and 75 meters. population of 225 people and 100 m2 platform space per person. It follows that for a platform size of 50 by 50 meters, a total of 9 platforms are required. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
185
At least 8 connections are required to connect all 9 platforms (but additional connections may
improve the strength and dimensional stability of the cluster). When the platform size becomes smaller than about 25 x 25 m the number of connections grows rapidly. Connections between floating structures are often complex and at smaller sizes may become a substantial part of the overall costs. Additionally, a large number of connections may adversely affect the ability to relocate the seasteading community in case of emergency.
the wave response time of the structure will depend on the total mass and distribution of mass
in the structure. Secondly, research indicates that altering the shape of the platform may reduce acceleration considerably. Finally, several platforms will need to be connected. This may further reduce negative effects of waves. Larger wavelengths may present problems in terms of comfort, but as discussed, it is not structurally feasible to try and deal with this by making extremely large platforms. In order to solve comfort requirements it is advised to do a more detailed study on how interconnected platforms with semi-flexible connections behave under different wave conditions
Platform structure and material There are three main material options for the platform structure: steel, composites, and concrete. Steel is the most frequently used material in the ship building industry, because it can be easily shaped and curved, has a high tensile strength and is easy to repair or modify. The drawbacks of steel are the high price and high maintenance costs (needs to be repainted on a regular basis in order to prevent corrosion).
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
186
Composites materials combine fibers (carbon-, glass-cellulose, Kevlar, etc.) and a hardened resin (epoxy, polyester, vinyl ester, etc.). Despite their generally high costs, they are increasingly used in high performance products, such as racing cars, airplanes, tennis rackets and fishing rods. The material is also commonly used in the construction of yachts, sailboats and surfboards. The material does not corrode, is durable, requires hardly any maintenance, is lightweight and can be stronger than steel. The main drawback is the price, which ranges from high to very high, depending on the type of resin and fibers that are used.
Concrete is also frequently used in water-related projects, such as submerged tunnels or offshore facilities. There are examples of submerged concrete that have remained structurally sound for over 50 years. Concrete has high-pressure strength but a rather low tensile strength. The main vulnerability of concrete is the reinforcement steel that is embedded in the concrete to provide tensile strength. This material may corrode. Therefore, a sufficiently thick layer of concrete needs to be applied to make sure the steel is not affected. This has large implications
for the weight of concrete structures, and the amount of material that is used. Recently, other types of reinforcements have been used such as fibers (e.g. Fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) and Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC)). For floating platforms, using non-corrosive reinforcements would bring great improvements of durability, weight and material use. Concrete is preferred, because it hardly needs maintenance and is the cheapest option, in particular when there is a lot of repetition in the construction. A heavy concrete base will also be very stable, because it has a low center of gravity. Lighter platforms on the other hand have higher center of gravity and therefore they are less stable, especially if real estate structures are added.
The floating platform will be designed as a hollow box (caisson). Usually, large concrete caissons are compartmentalized with walls, in order to reinforce the structure. Instead of using walls everywhere, a series of ribs can be placed on the floor of the caisson. The ribs will carry the load of the water pressure to the columns, similar to beams that carry the load of a floor.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
187
Exploded axonometric of the structural elements of the platform and assumptions of dimensions. • The functions include: buildings for housing, offices and hotel, streets, green and public space , private open space . • The street width varies between 7 to 10 meters in order to keep enough distance between two facing households. • The building depth is usually not larger than 12 meters in order to facilitate natural ventilation, fundamental for the comfort in hot-humid climates • A solution that allows achieving higher density with houses is to build two blocks with 3floor terraced houses or 2-floor houses on top of shops/offices. The section for those building typologies includes a street in the middle and two rows of houses with private gardens facing the water. The density is equal to roughly 30 inhabitants per platform. • When buildings, roads and green areas are constructed together on one platform, it is important to keep the ground floor of the buildings higher than the space outside, in order to prevent rainwater and dirt from streets and gardens to flow inside. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
188
• Extensive green on the platform roof for example, can have a total height of 30-40cm, including soil, drainage layer, membranes and floor gradient. This means that building floors need to be raised some tens of centimetres in order to be higher than the exterior space. • The initial conditions for this calculation are a platform size of 50 x 50 m, that is divided into 10% green space, 10% sidewalks and 80% ground that can be developed for rent or sale (issuable ground). The average building consists of three floors and has a gross/net space ratio of 0.78, which results in an average gross space of 3,000 m² and useable floor area of 2,340 m² per platform. Then, calculated a per person residential area of 75 m² and 25 m² of commercial area. This results in an average of 30 inhabitants per platform, combining this with commercial space and hotel space will accommodate more people which will lead to a rich and diverse environment.
• This draft document provides a vision of
the different growth dynamics of the floating city. Several levels are distinguished: o House o Neighborhood (5005000 houses) o District (5,00020,000) o City (20,000- larger) SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
189
10 .2 MACRO GUIDELINES – SITE PLANNING As per the previous study, and qualitative and quantitative survey of Tarawa, climatic conditions and harsh weather conditions that it has to face, Macro guidelines have been proposed for a seastead design at the coast of Tarawa • Since at the shore the water depth is less , a seastead has to be located at least 3km away from the low tide shore line , to escape the waves and high tides. At this distance, the sea depth is almost 800m to 1000m, which is very much suitable for a seastead • A completely covering platform might create a dead zone below the platform, thus depth should be grater then 15m and some voids in platform should be present, to let in the
sunlight. Also, should be towable in case of a calamity. • As per simulations we have observed that a zig zag placement in plan is better that parallel placement of structures. This allows to have better circulation of air and also creates cooling • House on the east coast should be the ones to be relocated to a seastead first, as the east coast is most vulnerable. • The houses should be oriented in East – West axis where the larger faces face North and South with less harsh light. • Radiation is higher in ocean when compared to the radiation on land. This radiation should be cut down from the surroundings of development. This can be done by using undulated surfaces or non reflective surface around the buildings / development. • The wind from the ocean can be used to create a venture effect on non- stormy days as the place is highly humid and very sunny with high temperature. • Since there is rainfall in every month, the slope of the developments should be such that the surface water can easily run off to avoid loading over the seastead. However, this is after enough drinking water is collected. •
The existing atoll should be simultaneously protected from high tides. Mangroves being the best and most ecological solution
• The cleared atoll should be use to grow more native trees. Also, soil should be desalinated meanwhile. 1) Use of salt (ions) removing species; 2) Use of drought tolerant crops species, because less water is applied and, therefore, less salts are infiltrated; 3) reduction of salt application by deficit irrigation; 4) application of minimal levels of water enough to obtain a
good visual appearance GVA of the landscape and the required yield. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
190
10.3. MICRO GUIDELINES – SPACE PLANNING As per the previous study, and qualitative and quantitative survey of Tarawa, climatic conditions and harsh weather conditions that it has to face, sociology and ergonomics Micro level guidelines have been proposed for a seastead design at the coast of Tarawa • The houses since located in a topical region, the passive homes should use light weight construction with openable walls and shaded outdoor porches, raised above ground • Should have high ceilings and tall operable windows with deep overhangs • However, since large overhangs are more destruction during a hurricane. A conical roof can be used. This should have provision to collect rain water for daily use too. It is better that each house is accommodated with its own collection tank. • Screened porches can provide passive comfort cooling and keep the interiors warm. This would also prevent insect problems. • Should minimize the maximum heat gain from the west. It is difficult to have huge trees on a seastead. Thus, other methods of shading should be used. • These house platforms should be easily detachable and be transported. These can be of 60m x 60m. These can be joined to make a hexagon or octagon , that have to be more stable in the ocean, as per the simulations. • Hexagon houses have more faces and thus has less percentage of face exposed to direct sunlight at a time. This helps in better shading and cooling. Also ventilation would be more. • Window overhangs and operable sunshades that can reduce direct sunlight and heating. • In case of using glass for these opening, high performance glazing on all orientations should be used. • Light coloured building materials and cool roofs. Otherwise, coconut leaf roofs as the traditionally used local material can be used. • Evaporative cooling techniques can be used. Also, in such climates, ceiling fans can be used. It makes them feel at least cooler (2.8 deg C). • Radiant barrier are shiny foils with emittance .05 or less with at least 1” clearance, attic must be vented.
• Orient most of the glass to the south, shaded by vertical fins, in very hot climates. • Shaded outdoor buffer zones (porch, patio, lanai) oriented to the prevailing breezes can extend living and working areas. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
191
• Since every family has 12 to 15 people, each family can be accommodated in a duplex. It would not require a stilt floor, but the ground floor can be accommodated with commercial/ workshop areas/ community spaces for few houses. • The space needs one major community space, like the Maneaba. And church space for worship. • It requires one major community space where all the meetings are done with skill development • Primary school education and a media library to encourage further study and knowledge for
those who area interested. • Youth should be educated and trained with skills to reduce unemployment issues. People should also be made aware of population control and counselled for avoiding abuse in families and outside. • It is seen that women undergo abuse and are given less preference. They should be provided with spaces for skill development like sewing , cooking, teaching, nursing, hotel management, etc. such that they can get used to the world when they have to migrate or
when the seastead develops further and becomes the future. • Open areas for drying fish and copra can be created.
10.4. ENERGY GUIDELINES – TO SATISFY DEMAND • Algae can be grown in the shallow waters of atolls. This decreases the wave speed to a little extent and also, alga culture will help in producing biofuel and adds onto country economy. • Greenhouse plants for food crop production
• Anaerobic digesters plants for waste management – should be placed 1km from development • OTEC plants that produce energy with thermal difference from ocean works out well in tropical areas. But as they produce a little noise, they need to be placed 1km away from the seastead • Solar panels can be placed upon the roofs and floating panels in the ocean. • Areas for growing seaweed, and aquaculture should be designed. This will bring back the lost ecosystem. It also adds to the seaweed and fish produce, adding to the economy. • Concrete mixed with plastic waste creates foam like concrete that weighs less and is yet dense enough to have the centre of gravity that is balancing . This can fibre reinforced concrete, to have more life span and resistance to salinity.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
192
Considering a seastead community of 5000 people, we can calculate the capacities and requirement of energy for this community. Accordingly, we can also calculate the space required and installations required to produce this amount of energy.
Solar energy production • Daily mean temperature in Tarawa is 28.3 deg C and average high temp is 30.9 deg C. • Average precipitation days in a year = 172 days • Mean daily sunshine hours = 7.4, and the lowest being in Dec, which is 6.1 hrs. • Total no. of. annual sunshine hours = approx. 2690 hrs.
Calculating solar load (requirement) for a house of 3 rooms, in Tarawa (considering minimal requirements - storage of enrgy can be done off grid, on atoll to avoid pollution by invertors and lithium batteries) Appliances
Output wattage Hours per day
No. of appliances Watt hours per day
computer phones stabilizer Dc lights DC fans DC water pump DC oven vent
85 4 5 2.5 15 3 20 3 36 4 72 1 15 0.5 Total Watt hours per day Total Watt hours per day (including miscallaneous)
1 2 1 6 2 1 1
340 25 45 360 288 72 7.5 1138 1160
No. of days that the system has to run without sun ( considering storm) (lowest mean temp) lowest temperature the battery bank will experience (deg C) Calculated Batter bank capacity (wh) (by alt E website) Selected battery bank voltage (V) (as for a small house) The average sun- hours at Tarawa location The total wattage of Solar panels that we need (w) (by alt E website) Solar panel model chosen The wattage of the panel that has been chosen (w) No. of panels required Total wattage produced by these panels (w) Charge controller that can handle (amps)
10
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
27 29349 12 v 7.4 hrs 203.8 ALTS-100W-12M 100 3 300 25
193
Off Grid Solar Panels
Solar panels are ideal for use in OFF GRID applications. These panels are great for charging 12 or 24 volt batteries. They are useful for supplying household power for small appliances like cabin, cottage, or even RV! And with a deep cycle battery, it's great for backup power in the event the grid goes down . APPLICATIONS: •Off-grid power for cabins, vacation homes, RVs, campers, remote monitoring systems. •Solar water pumping and solar-powered refrigerators
•Remote Wi-Fi and wireless repeaters •3 Year Workmanship Warranty/25 Year Performance Warranty Electrical characteristics: (1 panel = 149$)
Considering, the above, when developing a community hall and other requirements for a community of 5 modules, let us consider, 20000 wh is what is required. The total wattage of
solar panels power needed is 3513 Watts. Considering 100 watt per panels, we would need 36 panels for a total production of 3600 watts.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
194
Wave energy production Sea carpet : The problem of Tarawa that is the high tides, often storms and high waves can now be used for energy production. Some converters float on the surface, tethered to wave-generators on the ocean floor. Others have one end anchored to the sea bottom with the other free to flip from side to side as waves wash over it. Still others use air or water pressure to generate electricity.
One of the newest systems looks a bit like a flat carpet. Mohammad-Reza Alam and his team at the University of California, Berkeley designed the converter to mimic a muddy seafloor. Places with lots of mud are good at absorbing incoming waves, Alam explains. Fishermen in shallow seas often head for muddy areas when rough weather hits. Boats hanging out there are protected from big waves as they ride out a storm. If mud can absorb that much energy, Alam reasoned, then an energy converter that acts like mud should do the same. That would make it extremely efficient at harvesting wave power. The “carpet” part of his converter is made from a smooth sheet of rubber. It rests near the seafloor, where it can bend and flex right along with the waves. As it moves up and down, it pushes posts in and out of a piston pump. The pump converts the piston’s movement into electricity, which then travels along a cable to the electric grid.
The carpet is able to remove almost all of the energy from the waves, Alam says. And it would be able to power lots of homes. Each hour, he says, “every square meter of the carpet can get about 2.5 kilowatts [of electricity] out of water near the coast of California.” That’s twice the amount of electricity used each hour by a typical American home.
Source : Ocean energy could be the wave of the future By Alison Pearce Stevens
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
195
“If we want to get the same power from solar,” Alam says, “we need 14 square meters [151 square
feet] of solar panels.” That’s 14 times as much! He says a full-size wave carpet would probably be about 10 meters (33 feet) wide by 20 meters (66 feet) long. So it should be able to generate 500 kilowatts of electricity per hour — enough to power more than 400 homes — around the clock. Other locations, such as northern Europe, have more energetic waves. So a wave carpet there could generate more electricity, Alam notes. Anchored to the sea floor, the whole structure lies just above the seabed. So it’s completely out of sight. Thus, these are most suitable for Kiribati islands, with a wave speed of 20 to 30 KW/m and also high tides and storm surges.
Concern with environment • Ecological impacts of absorbing all of that energy from incoming waves. (After all, that’s how they generate electricity — by converting wave energy into electrical energy.) Energy tapped from the waves will reduce how much energy will remain as the waves continue in toward shore. They will be smaller, at least for some distance. Smaller waves could lead to less mixing of nutrients within the water column (that’s the water between a particular bit of ocean bottom and the surface above it). And that could impact with species that live there, Greaves says. “But it can also be a benefit,” she adds. After all, “wave-energy converters can help provide some coastal protection” by reducing erosion. • The electric generators also could affect how wildlife interact. Many birds and marine mammals hunt for fish in areas that might be ideal sites for wave converters. It’s possible that converters could even attract fish to them if the smaller critters they eat seek refuge there. That could, in turn, attract hungry predators. This might help boost marine life in the area. But fish, seals and other animals might also get tangled up in long cables that anchor surfacefloating energy converters. • The converters will make noise. This can be a problem for fish, dolphins and other animals that rely on sound to find food or to communicate. The deep rumble of a boat and the loud ping of sonar cause all kinds of problems for ocean animals. These critters may struggle to find food or become disoriented. However, Greaves says, wave converters are unlikely to create high levels of noise. The noisiest part would happen when the converters are initially installed at some site. Once they start running, they should be fairly quiet. SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
196
OTEC- Ocean Thermal Energy Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is the use of a high surface temperature of the water with the low temperature of the water at a certain depth thus creating a heat engine. The working fluid in such a cycle will need to have a low boiling point. Ammonia will be used as the working fluid in this cycle. The cycle will be a Rankine cycle similar to that of a steam power plant. There will be a pump, boiler (in this case the oceans surface water), turbine, and condenser (in this case the oceans water from 1000 meters deep). After numerical analysis of the system, it is found that the overall efficiency of this configuration is relatively low in comparison to the most widely used power generation technologies.
In the first analysis, the Carnot Efficiency was found to be 8.03% while the Rankine cycle efficiency was 6.99%. In the second analysis of the system, there was a mass flow rate of 1000 kg/s. The working fluid and temperature difference were accounted for in the heat exchange of the warmer surface water to the cold water used in the condenser. In this analysis the Rankine cycle efficiency was found to be 3.97% and the
Carnot efficiency in this example was 4.35%. In a real application the pump uses up most of the power generated due to having to pump water from 1000 meters deep. Marine grade aluminium with thickness (and geometry) sufficient
to resist 200 psi pressure can be used as the primary heat exchanger material.
Source : Principle and Preliminary Calculation of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion- Walter Engels
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
197
Aquaponics Aquaponics refers to any system that combines conventional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. A neutral pH from 6.8 to 7.2 is good for the aquaponics garden. Floating aquaponics systems on polyculture fish ponds have been installed in China in more recent years on a large scale. They are used to grow rice, wheat and canna lily and other crops, with some installations exceeding 2.5 acres (10,000 m2) . If you want to grow larger, edible fish, choose a tank that is at least 18” (457mm) deep and holds at least 50 gallons (189 liters) of water. Tanks need to hold approximately 50 gallons or more in order to grow plate-sized fish. In a smaller sized tank, <50 gallons of water, we recommend
stocking the tank with 1″ of fish for every 1 gallon of water. For example, a 10-gallon tank could hold 10x 1″ fish or 5x 2″ fish. Aquaponic systems don't use any chemicals, and they require about 10 percent of the water used in regular farming. Use 1/6th of the water to grow 8 times more food per acre compared to traditional agriculture 25 square foot unit grows enough fish and vegetables to completely feed one adult all year long, and a 5 foot x 40 foot aquaponic unit can completely feed 8 adults all year long A 1/4 acre aquaponic farm can hold 20,000 lbs of fish and grow 70,000 vegetables! Considering a community of 5000ppl, the area required = 25 sft *5000 ppl = 125000 = 2.8 acres.
A system of 256 sft costs around $2,700 to build.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
198
Energy production through Biofuel Algae could potentially produce up to 60 times more oil per acre than land-based plants. As algae have a harvesting cycle of 1–10 days, their cultivation permits several harvests in a very short time-frame. When burnt, it releases only CO2 and no other harmful gases. Extract that oil, and you have the raw materials to make fuel for cars, trucks, trains, and planes. In the future, anything that runs on gasoline and diesel could also use biofuel from algae. This can be sold to other countries as fuel., adding to their economy. There are over 100,000 different strains of algae. Some grow better in different climates, or in freshwater, saltwater, or even wastewater. The per unit area yield of oil from algae is estimated to be from 58,700 to 136,900 L/ha/year, depending on lipid content, which is 10 to 23 times as high as the next highest yielding crop, oil palm, at 5 950 L/ha/year.
Energy production through - Anaerobic digestion waste generation in the households waste generation by the households is 0.29kg per capita per day (0.26kg in the core zone, 0.32kg in the outer zone and 0.29kg in the middle zone). waste generation is higher in the outer zone and lower in the core zone. this may be due to the sufficient open spaces available in the surroundings of the outer zone. in the core zone people have no space and so they may be generating less waste. Total waste generated on site per day = 0.29kg * 5000 ppl = 1450kg = 1.45 tons By average and rough estimation you'll get biogas equivalent of two lpg cylinders (each 14 kg) from 1 ton of waste. Considering 85% of daily waste as vegetable/organic waste, amount od degradable waste = 1.08 tons. = 2 cylinder per day. the extra amount can also be sold to supplement the maintenance cost of the neighborhood.
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
199
11 . DESIGN
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
200
11 .1. PROTOTYPE
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
201
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
202
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
203
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
204
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
205
11 .2. DESIGN FOR TARAWA
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
206
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
207
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
208
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
209
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
210
12. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEBLIOGRAPHY SEASTEADING – HOW FLOATING NATIONS WILL RESTORE THE ENVIRONMENT , ENRICH THE POOR, CURE THE SICK, AND LIBERATE HUMANITY FROM POLITICIANS – JOE QUIRK WITH PATRI FRIEDMAN SEASTEADING: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO HOMESTEADING THE HIGH SEAS PATRI FRIEDMAN (WITH WAYNE GRAMLICH) JUNE 9, 2009 https://www.gwern.net/docs/economics/2009-friedman-seasteadingapracticalguide.pdf THE SEASTEADING INSTITUTE https://www.seasteading.org/engineering/ FLOATING HOMES, AUTHOR: KEIREN https://insteading.com/blog/floating-homes/ SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE: SEA LEVEL RISE BY MATT BURDETT, 10 APRIL 2018. https://geographycasestudy.com/societal-impacts-of-climate-change-sea-level-rise/ HOW DOES THE OCEAN AFFECT CLIMATE AND WEATHER ON LAND? https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/climate.html#:~:text=Ocean%20currents%20act%20much%20like,solar%2 0radiation%20reaching%20Earth's%20surface. THE GLOBAL WATER CRISIS WILL SHAKE HUMANITY TO ITS CORE [CHARTS] BY GUS LUBIN https://www.businessinsider.com/facts-about-the-water-crisis-2012-6?IR=T#india-will-run-out-of-water-by2050-9 TRITON FLOATING CITY- R.B.FULLER https://www.behance.net/gallery/2971307/Richard-Buckminster-Fullers-Triton-City-project
ACTUALLY, THERE AREN’T PLENTY OF FISH IN THE SEA BY CAROLYN O'HARA https://foreignpolicy.com/2006/11/02/actually-there-arent-plenty-of-fish-in-the-sea/ WATER USE AND STRESS BY HANNAH RITCHIE AND MAX ROSER https://ourworldindata.org/water-use-stress CAN ENGINEERS BUILD FLOATING CITIES TO SAVE ISLAND NATIONS? APR 7, 2020 BY MICHAEL ABRAMS https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/can-engineers-build-floating-cities-to-save-island-nations NATURAL HAZARD VIEWER – NATIONAL CENTERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION https://maps.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/hazards/?layers=0 CLIMATE CHANGE INDICATORS: COASTAL FLOODING https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-coastal-flooding THE OCEAN AND CLIMATE https://www.personal.kent.edu/~mkeatts/oceansandclimate.htm JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/floating-building-opportunities-for-future-sustainable-developmentandenergy-efficiency-gains-2168-9717-1000142.php?aid=56937 FLOATING AND MOVING HOUSES: A NEED OF TOMORROW https://www.mgsarchitecture.in/architecture-design/projects/380-floating-and-moving-houses-a-need-oftomorrow.html
FLOATING ARCHITECTURE IS MAKING WAVES https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/floating-architecture-around-the-world-slideshow
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
211
OCEANS FIRST, SPACE NEXT – LIVE ONLINE EVENT https://www.seasteading.org/blog/ OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY CONVERSION https://www.makai.com/ocean-thermal-energyconversion/#:~:text=Ocean%20Thermal%20Energy%20Conversion%20(OTEC,power%20cycle%20and%20produce%2 0electricity. COASTAL PROCESSES, HAZARDS, AND SOCIETY https://www.e-education.psu.edu/earth107/node/1094 WHAT IS AQUAPONICS? (THE ULTIMATE DIY AQUAPONICS BEGINNER’S GUIDE) https://greenglobaltravel.com/what-is-aquaponics-diy-aquaponics-guide/ BIO PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL PRODUCES ENERGY FROM BACTERIA IN SOIL https://www.designboom.com/technology/bio-photovoltaic-panel/ INTERNATIONA MARINE FLOATATION SYSTEMS INC. https://www.floatingstructures.com/page/technology/ RESEARCH PAPERS ON SEA STEADING https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&as_vis=1&q=research+papers+on+sea+steading&btnG=
OCEAN EXPLORER AND RESEARCH https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/welcome.html FLOATING INFRASTRUCTURE WITH BATHING AND FILTRATION OF GREEN ALGAE WATER https://www.aaschool.ac.uk/projects/floating-infrastructure-with-bathing-and-filtration-of-green-algae-water KIRIBATI FLOATING HOUSES – BRIEF https://www.youngarchitectscompetitions.com/competition/kiribati-floating-houses#partners KIRIBATI WRITTEN BY SOPHIE FOSTER https://www.britannica.com/place/Kiribati COUNTRIES FOOD OF GHOSTS (KIRIBATI) BY MARIANNE WHEELAGHAN https://365bookworm.wordpress.com/2016/07/13/food-of-ghosts-kiribati/ IS 'SEASTEADING' A DELUSION OR COULD FLOATING CITIES BE A LIFELINE FOR PACIFIC NATIONS? https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-06-16/floating-cities-and-seasteading-brilliant-or-bonkers/9851316 “ARTIFICIAL ISLANDS” OF THE FUTURE: THE SEASTEADING MOVEMENT AND THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL REGIMES GOVERNING SEASTEADS IN EEZS AND ON THE HIGH SEAS, RYAN C. SCHMIDTKE http://blog.hawaii.edu/aplpj/files/2019/12/APLPJ-21.1_Schmidtke.pdf ADAPTATION FUND BOARD PROJECT AND PROGRAMME REVIEW COMMITTEE- PROPOSAL FOR KIRIBATI https://www.adaptation-fund.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AFB.PPRC_.23.20-Proposal-for-Kiribati.pdf CLIMATIC CONSIDERATIONS IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN OF BUILDINGS IN TROPICS: A CASE STUDY OF HOT DRY AND WARM HUMID CLIMATES IN NIGERIA https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314208804_climatic_considerations_in_architectural_design_of_building s_in_tropics_a_case_study_of_hot_dry_and_warm_humid_climates_in_nigeria MAKOKO FLOATING SCHOOL – AGA KHAN AWARD FOR ARCHITECTURE https://www.akdn.org/architecture/project/makoko-floating-school COASTAL FLOODING, CLIMATE CHANGE, AND YOUR HEALTH WHAT YOU CAN DO TO PREPARE https://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/pubs/CoastalFloodingClimateChangeandYourHealth-508.pdf
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
212
DYNAMICS AND PREDICTABILITY OF EL NIÑO– SOUTHERN OSCILLATION http://web.science.unsw.edu.au/~matthew/Santoso_et_al_BAMS_2019.pdf HIGHER FREQUENCY OF CENTRAL PACIFIC EL NIÑO EVENTS IN RECENT DECADES RELATIVE TO PAST CENTURIES https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0353-3 KIRIBATI: A DROWNING PARADISE IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC | DW DOCUMENTARY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ0j6kr4ZJ0&t=724s TRADITIONAL LIFE OF KIRIBATI ON THE ISLAND OF TARAWA http://www.galenfrysinger.com/kiribati_traditional.htm EL NINO - WHAT IS IT? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPA-KpldDVc CLIMATE VARIABILITY, EXTREMES AND CHANGE IN THE WESTERN TROPICAL PACIFIC: NEW SCIENCE AND UPDATED COUNTRY REPORTS https://www.pacificclimatechangescience.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/07/PACCSAP_CountryReports2014_Ch6Kiribati_WEB_140710.pdf RESILIENCE OF CENTRAL PACIFIC REEFS SUBJECT TO FREQUENT HEAT STRESS AND HUMAN DISTURBANCE. https://europepmc.org/article/med/30837608 MARINE WEATHER https://www.myweather2.com/Marine/Global-Ports/South-Korea/Tarawa-Atoll/wind-wave-chart.aspx CLIMATE CHANGE AND PACIFIC ISLANDS: INDICATORS AND IMPACTS - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE 2012 PACIFIC ISLANDS REGIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT (PIRCA) https://www.cakex.org/sites/default/files/documents/Exec-Summary-PIRCA-FINAL2.pdf RAPID HUMAN-DRIVEN UNDERMINING OF ATOLL ISLAND CAPACITY TO ADJUST TO OCEAN CLIMATE-RELATED PRESSURES BY VIRGINIE K. E. DUVAT & ALEXANDRE K. MAGNAN https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-51468-3 EXPLORING THE RELATION BETWEEN SEA LEVEL RISE AND SHORELINE EROSION USING SEA LEVEL RECONSTRUCTIONS: AN EXAMPLE IN FRENCH POLYNESIA https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236348959_Exploring_the_relation_between_sea_level_rise_and_ shoreline_erosion_using_sea_level_reconstructions_An_example_in_French_Polynesia KIRIBATI: LIVING ON THE EDGE BY KENNETH R. WEISS https://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/kiribati-living-edge RESEARCH + WORK TARAWA, REPUBLIC OF KIRIBATI https://worldheritage.design.umn.edu/Kiribati.htm MARCIN KITALA'S FLOATING ISLAND SYSTEM IMAGINES A FUTURE FOR THE PEOPLE OF KIRIBATI https://www.designboom.com/architecture/marcin-kitala-floating-island-system-kiribati-03-23-2020/ KIRIBATI DESIGN STUDIO CENTRAL PACIFIC ISLAND ARCHITECTURE BY ISABELLE LOMHOLT https://www.e-architect.co.uk/newzealand/kiribati-design-studio THE LITTLE ISLAND THAT COULD - KIRIBATI ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN https://thelittleislandthatcould.com/2015/10/09/kiribati-architecture-and-design/ Kiribati Floating Houses: an Architectural call to face the Climate Change Challenge https://www.archdaily.com/927327/kiribati-floating-houses-an-architectural-call-to-face-the-climate-change-challenge
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
213
EFFECTS OF WALL SHAPE CHANGES IN INDOOR AIR CIRCULATION - STUDIES ON CONCAVE AND CONVEX WALLS https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14733315.2010.11683876 KIRIBATI – BY BARRIE K.MACDONALD, NEW ZEALAND. https://www.britannica.com/place/Kiribati SEEN FROM SPACE 2009. KIRIBATI, ON THE VERGE OF BEING SUBMERGED https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/en/earthview/2009/tp090513.html OCEANWEATHER INC. CURRENT MARINE DATA https://www.oceanweather.com/data/ WAVE FORECAST VERIFICATION – JCOMM https://www.jcomm.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=131&Itemid=37 33 YEARS OF GLOBALLY CALIBRATED WAVE HEIGHT AND WIND SPEED DATA BASED ON ALTIMETER OBSERVATIONS BY AGUSTINUS RIBAL AND IAN R.YOUNG https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-019-0083-9 ESTIMATION OF EXTREME WIND WAVE HEIGHTS BY L.J. LOPATOUKHIN, V.A. ROZHKOV, V.E. RYABININ, V.R. SWAIL, A.V. BOUKHANOVSKY AND A. B. DEGTYAREV https://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/amp/mmop/documents/JCOMM-TR/J-TR-9-ExtWaveHeight/JCOMM-TR-9-ExtrWave-Height-Full.pdf WAVE MEASUREMENT – MONITORING AND PREDICTION OF WAVES AND SHORELINE CHANGE https://cdip.ucsd.edu/m/documents/wave_measurement.html KIRIBATI: STOCK MARKET CAPITALIZATION, PERCENT OF GDP https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Kiribati/Stock_market_capitalization/ KIRIBATI POPULATION (LIVE) https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/kiribati-population/ MANEABA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maneaba SURVEY OF THE REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION AND STATUS OF ASBESTOSCONTAMINATED CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL AND BEST PRACTICE OPTIONS FOR ITS MANAGEMENT IN PACIFIC ISLAND COUNTRIES REPORT FOR THE SOVEREIGN REPUBLIC OF KIRIBATI https://www.sprep.org/attachments/pacwaste/SPREP_Asbestos_Report_-_Kiribati_-_Final_-_14_Feb_16red.pdf KIRIBATI'S PRESIDENT'S PLANS TO RAISE ISLANDS IN FIGHT AGAINST SEA-LEVEL RISE https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/10/kiribatis-presidents-plans-to-raise-islands-in-fight-against-sealevel-rise TIDE- FORECAST. COM https://www.tide-forecast.com/maps/Kiribati
PAPUA NEW GUINEA - LOMBRUM 2019 TIDE PREDICTIONS CALENDAR http://oceanportal.spc.int/portal/library/assets/Papua.New.Guinea.Lombrum.2019.Tide.Calendar.Work.Plan.pdf GLOBAL-PACIFIC SURF MAP – WIND AND WAVE FORECASTS https://www.surf-forecast.com/weather_maps/GlobalPacific?over=pressure_arrows&symbols=breaks.forecast.dots&type=wind COASTAL PROTECTION STRUCTURES IN TARAWA ATOLL, REPUBLIC OF KIRIBATI https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-013-0205-9
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
214
TARAWA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarawa
SATELLITE PANORAMIC MAP OF TARAWA http://www.maphill.com/kiribati/tarawa/panoramic-maps/satellite-map/ THIS IS KIRIBATI –AIR KIRBIATI http://www.airkiribati.com.ki/our-destination-profile BATTLING TUBERCULOSIS IN AN ISLAND CONTEXT WITH A HIGH BURDEN OF COMMUNICABLE AND NONCOMMUNICABLE DISEASES: EPIDEMIOLOGY, PROGRESS, AND LESSONS LEARNED IN KIRIBATI, 2000 TO 2012 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Population-growth-in-South-Tarawa-1947-to-2010-3_fig4_269170122 KIRIBATI- A DROWNING PARADISE IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC https://sadhanaforest.org/events/kiribati-a-drowning-paradise-in-the-south-pacific/
KIRIBATI ISLAND: SINKING INTO THE SEA? https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-25086963 MAP OF TIDE STATIONS IN KIRIBATI https://www.tide-forecast.com/weather_maps/Kiribati DESALINATION https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desalination KIRIBATI: CLIMATE CHANGE AND MIGRATION RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN HOUSEHOLD VULNERABILITY, HUMAN MOBILITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE https://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:5903/Online_No_20_Kiribati_Report_161207.pdf
REPUBLIC OF KIRIBATI ISLAND REPORT SERIES (6. South Tarawa) https://theasiadialogue.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/6_SOUTH-TARAWA-revised-2012.pdf AUSTRALIA - OCEANIA :: KIRIBATI https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/print_kr.html KIRIBATI’S UNIQUE ECONOMIC STRUCTURE https://devpolicy.org/kiribatis-unique-economic-structure-20190612/ THE GLOBAL GRAPH – KIRIBATI POPULATION https://worldpopulation.theglobalgraph.com/p/kiribati-population.html BIOGAS PRODUCTION FROM ANAEROBIC DIGESTION OF FOOD WASTE AND RELEVANT AIR QUALITY IMPLICATIONS https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10962247.2017.1316326#:~:text=Yields%20from%20anaerobic%20di gestion%20can,ton%20of%20raw%20food%20waste. ENERGY 101: ALGAE-TO-FUEL https://www.energy.gov/eere/videos/energy-101-algaefuel#:~:text=Some%20of%20these%20algae%20store,acre%20than%20land%2Dbased%20plants. AQUAPONICS GROW BED CALCULATOR https://aquaponictrend.blogspot.com/2018/04/aquaponics-grow-bed-calculator.html https://aquaponics.com/aquaponic-systems/home-aquaponic-systems/ SOLAR ENRGY CALCULATOR – ALT E https://www.altestore.com/store/calculators/off_grid_calculator/ PROPERTY COST IN TARAWA https://find-price-order.com/apartments-price-tarawa-apartments-cost--apartments-rate-kiribati
SEASTEADING - SUSTAIANBLE FLOATING COMMUNITIES
215