Underwater turbines and going green after a tornado

The tornado that hit Greensburg, Kansas in the U.S. in 2007 destroyed 95% of the buildings in that town. After its rebuilding, Greensburg is now a zero-emission city. All of the electricity used by the inhabitants comes from a wind farm, and the heating and cooling systems rely on geothermal energy. All the buildings are energy efficient, streets are lit with LED lighting, and there’s a rainwater irrigation system. Thousands of liters of water are saved thanks to low-flow toilets. The street furniture was designed to be drought-resistant. Greensburg was rebuilt with the use of recycled materials.

Tiny underwater turbines will be installed in the East River, New York as a testing project for creating electricity from the tides. Until now, similar initiatives faced issues like high costs and mechanical problems. The new turbines have over five meters high rotors and a capacity of 35 kilowatts each. It’s about four times more than the typical U.S. residential rooftop solar system.

The biggest in the world, the 10-gigawatt solar farm is to be constructed in Australia’s Northern Territory. It will cost 20 billion dollars and spread on about 12 000 hectares. Two-thirds of the electricity produced will be sold to Singapore via undersea cables. Australia aims to become the world leader in clean energy exports and use its desolated areas, wind, and sun to produce hydrogen and ammonia.