Protecting our environment.......
With modern technology and population growth the need to produce additional power without polluting our environment and the issue of waste disposal and recycling in an ecological way are becoming urgent matters.
This week we show you two very different project that focuses on these issues.
Photo. Kirsten Kiser
A perfect place for clean dreams on a sunny winter afternoon.
The tiny pavilion, built in 1834, is in a garden on the island of Fyn, Denmark.
Sketch courtesy Moore, Ruble & Yudell
First the design for the new Sunlaw Power Plant in California, by Moore, Rubell and Yudell, that will feature a revolutionary new technology Sunlaw Energy Partners have invented called SCONOx.
Since 1999 the demand for electricity in California has increased by around 10 percent and the state is now dangerously close to running out of power.
After nearly two decades, during which very few new large plants have been built, the California Energy Commission, acknowledging something had to be done, has licensed its ninth power plant since April 1999.
Many environmentalists have been championing the SCONOx technology as a far cleaner and less dangerous alternative to the current industry standard, which requires ammonia and has resulted in some nasty spills. They have pushed hard --and failed -- to make SCONOx a requirement at three other new plants.
If the Sunlaw Plant operates successfully, it will be the first large-scale proof that SCONOx works, and could pave the way for new, lower emissions standards that would help clean up pollution in L.A. and around the state.
"If you are going to build a power plant, you should use the SCONOx equipment, or something else that works as well," said Gail Ruderman Feuer, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The project is at the energy commission for their review and approval. If approved Sunlaw would like to build the power plant this year.
More about the Sunlaw Power Plant project.
Secondly the exhibition “re-f-use” at the Danish Design Centre.
The title plays on the word refuse or waste, which without the F, can be read as reUse.
The objective focuses on preventing or reducing waste through sustainable product design. “re-f-use” furthermore demonstrates that in the best sustainable design environmental protection and economic growth reinforce rather than conflict with aesthetics.
In order to achieve sustainable development, a growth that is able to satisfy “the need of the present without compromising the future generations to meet their own needs”, (Definition of the World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987) we need to take a more holistic view of progress. This requires an understanding, on behalf of companies and brands, that the challenge is to find a balance between the natural and the artificial habitat, the “needs” of the collectivities and the “wants” of the individuals.
Stefano Marzano (catalog excerpt)
Director General
Philips Design, The Netherlands
We are probably within a few decades of a point in human history where the sheer mass of people on the earth and their abusive technologies will make the degradation of the environment irreversible.
I am sure we are all eager to express our concern for the health of our world and its few remaining resources....... The challenges we face today can generate enormous rewards tomorrow.
We welcome your comments on these issues and hope this will start a dialogue....
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More about the exhibition.
P.S. In the coming months we will be retrieving several series from the EC (Environmental Communications) archives that concentrates on ecological issues.
P.P.S. If you are in the San Francisco area it might interest you to attend the:
METROPOLIS Magazine: Sustainable Design Conference
San Francisco, February 7-8, 2001
Whether you're involved in Architecture, Interiors, Branding, Products, the Internet, or Transportation, you're responsible not just to your clients, but to society and future generations.
The Metropolis West Conference is all about collaboration. Metropolis Magazine, frog design, and UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design Alumni Association are working together to produce the most relevant and up-to-date conference on sustainable design practices.
For more information and registration:
visit www.metropolismag.com or call 1-800-715-2443 or 1-914-271-2160.
