DISCUSS: Most Futuristic City

[Manila-X]

Originally Posted by Blue_Sky

My list would be
1. Tokyo
2. Seoul
3. HK = Shanghai

HK > Shanghai

[Mosaic]

HK>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Shanghai.

[hkskyline]

One step closer to sustainable development :
Oslo's sewage heats its homes
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

OSLO, April 7 (Reuters) - In an extreme energy project tapping heat from raw sewage, Oslo's citizens are helping to warm their homes and offices simply by flushing the toilet.

Large blue machines at the end of a 300-metre long tunnel in a hillside in central Oslo use fridge technology to suck heat from the sewer and transfer it to a network of hot water pipes feeding thousands of radiators and taps around the city.

"We believe this is the biggest heating system in the world using raw sewage," Lars-Anders Loervik, managing director of Oslo energy company Viken Fjernvarme which runs the plant, told Reuters. The plant opened this week.

The heat pump, a system of compressors and condensers, cost 90 million Norwegian crowns ($13.95 million) and has an effect of 18 megawatts (MW), enough to heat 9,000 flats or save burning 6,000 tonnes of oil a year.

And experts say sewers could be exploited elsewhere.

"The technology is there, so if the infrastructure is also there, this is a feasible solution in many cities worldwide," said Monica Axell, head of the International Energy Agency's heat pump centre. The agency advises 26 industrialised nations.

She said a bigger heat pump in Sweden, with a 160 MW capacity, exploited heat from treated sewage. And in Finland, a 90 MW plant ran on waste water.

In Oslo, untreated sewer flows -- from toilets, bathtubs, sinks and rainwater from the streets -- runs into the system past a filter that keeps out big objects such as dead rats.

Sewage was flowing into the system at 9.6 Celsius (49.28 Fahrenheit) on Friday and coming out at 5.7 Celsius after heat is extracted with a refrigerant.

The energy in turn goes to warming the water in the 400 km (250 mile) pipe system, fed to offices and homes, to about 90 C from a temperature of 52 C when it reaches the sewerage plant. Other plants, burning industrial waste, also heat the water.

FUEL PRICE

Similar heat pumps can be run on any stable source of water -- in Paris the Seine River is tapped to run air-conditioning systems. Sea water can also be exploited.

Sewer power is less polluting than burning fossil fuels but more than renewable energy like wind power. About a third of the heat energy comes from electricity to drive the system and the other two-thirds is the heat from the sewer.

"Oil prices have an impact on investment willingness, but more important is the ratio of fuel price and electricity price," Axell said. "A high fuel price and a low electricity price is a strong driver to invest in heat pump technology."

Among other sewage energy projects worldwide, U.S. scientists are looking to exploit sewage-eating bacteria to generate electricity.

"The microbial fuel cell work is going well, but we still are not out of the lab on this technology," said Bruce Logan of Pennsylvania State University.

In Oslo, a problem is that the flow in the sewers is irregular -- Monday mornings between 4-6 a.m. are especially dry because people go to bed early on Sunday. But at weekends, the flow is good.

"When people have been out to parties there's a lot of beer going into the sewer," said Oyvind Nilsen, the project manager for the Oslo plant.

At the opening ceremony for the plant, Oslo mayor Per Ditlev-Simonsen was given a new toilet seat for his office. "It will be an inspiration," he said.

[Daniel_Portugal]

NYC futuristic? what an OVERrate

in questions of futuristic vibe.. any cities in world beat asian cities like tokyo, hong kong and shangai!

[_00_deathscar]

I don't quite understand what the term 'futuristic' is in context for? Is it more futuristic LOOKING? That can be deceptive though ... a city can be futuristic looking but the ideas it actually employs need not neccessarily be futuristic - a good example is Pune after the completion of Infosys there - it looks futuristic ... heck they probably just stole a spaceship from Area 51 and planted it in Pune and called it Infosys - but Pune is otherwise (Infosys's building and theme apart) a very backward and lackadaisical city.

Shanghai looks very futuristic (the most futuristic looking city in my opinion) but I haven't visited it so don't know...

Likewise with Dubai (after all the completion of the towers).

Whereas the likes of Hong Kong and Tokyo LOOK and ARE futuristic in the systems it employs.

[pedang]

tokyo - seoul - hk

[Chevin]

Seoul , no doubt

[malec]

I think a very important aspect of being a futuristic city is that it's not too car dependent so I would put cities with good public transport systems first. Some cities might appear to be futuristic like Dubai but might actually be very car-dependent. In that city they have a lot of very futuristic projects going up (not necessarily just towers but are also very well planned) but the city as a whole is still very car dependent

[Ekumenopolis]

I would say Tokyo, followed by HK and (very distantly) London or Amsterdam.

But keep an eye on Shenzen, Valencia, Seoul and some more!

[Manila-X]

Tokyo is definitely futuristic

[Rachmaninov]

I think Dubai is the most futuristic-looking city, or at least it will be.

[kostya]

Tokyo or Hong Kong for me. Both look exotic in my eyes.

[Manila-X]

Originally Posted by Rachmaninov

I think Dubai is the most futuristic-looking city, or at least it will be.

Compared with Tokyo or HK no way!

[Jo]

Hmm.. modern public transport, not car dependant, futuristic skyline and low rise architecture, early adopter of new technology, tech crazy residents and government, melting pot of cultures etc.. I think we are forgetting Singapore, even if it would not beat the Japanese cities.

[Manila-X]

Originally Posted by Jo

Hmm.. modern public transport, not car dependant, futuristic skyline and low rise architecture, early adopter of new technology, tech crazy residents and government, melting pot of cultures etc.. I think we are forgetting Singapore, even if it would not beat the Japanese cities.

Singapore is one of them And it's not just the public transportation and infrastructure but cleanliness and city planning as well.

[Brendan]

Dubai isn't a real city, it's simply just an oasis in the middle of a desert. After they run out of oil in that area the UAE will fall behind and lack money, then that is the chance for the rest of the world to catch up.

[Manila-X]

Originally Posted by Killer789

Dubai isn't a real city, it's simply just an oasis in the middle of a desert. After they run out of oil in that area the UAE will fall behind and lack money, then that is the chance for the rest of the world to catch up.

Dubai is a real city. It has buildings, roads, infrastructure, services and a sizable population.

And Dubai has already planned it's economy in the event that they run out of oil

[hkskyline]

The whole purpose of all these projects in Dubai is to diversify its economy away from oil, so if oil does run out one day, they can still survive.

[Manila-X]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

The whole purpose of all these projects in Dubai is to diversify its economy away from oil, so if oil does run out one day, they can still survive.

Besides oil, Dubai is also banking on it's tourism industry. And alot of their developments cater to tourists.

I look at Dubai today as more of a leisure city kinda like The Gold Coast.

[hkskyline]

Originally Posted by WANCH

Besides oil, Dubai is also banking on it's tourism industry. And alot of their developments cater to tourists.

I look at Dubai today as more of a leisure city kinda like The Gold Coast.

Dubai is also looking at banking and being a sourcing centre for Africans. Hence it may even become a major maritime centre in the region.