PVs and Wind Energy

Eighty per cent of worldwide CO₂ emissions are direct associated with fossil fuels - our primary source of energy. It also contributes with one third of the methane emissions. It is clear that we need to find or improve other ways of producing energy. The resources are everywhere - sunlight, wind - ready to be used.

Solar energy has been used and developed during the last century mainly through photovoltaic panels - PVs - which are low-polluting and reliable. It can be largely used on the rooftops of buildings and also in the facades. Its efficiency depends on the climate conditions and its position - orientation. Beyond that, PVs can transport energy to batteries, to other buildings, or even sold - as seen in the previous post - like in done in Germany, where the government pays around 0.5 Euro per kWh¹⁰. The disadvantage, once more, is the initial cost.

Wind is also been used as a source of energy for decades, especially in farmlands, with large turbines. However its visual and acoustic impact are two considerable disadvantages of its implementation in a large scale. And it could be implemented in urban areas in small scales, with smaller turbines. This way it could reduce the waste and cost in its transmission. Some factor must be considered, as wind availability in the urban area, its impact in the urban environment and the costs, what make this technology more appropriate for high rise buildings - but not excluding other possibilities. In fact some new building have implemented turbines in the design and despite the challenging of putting a turbine in the top of a building the system is quite efficient.

Together, PVs and wind turbines can help the energy efficiency of our buildings and our cities, and well designed it can also be aesthetically and architecturally very interesting.

 Castle House, London.

Image Source - Andrews, K 2007, Castle House Skyscraper, accessed 10 April 2014, <http://inhabitat.com/castle-house-eco-skyscraper/>.

Source - Ritchie, A; Thomas, R,  2009, Sustainable Urban Design - an environmental approach , Taylor and Francis, 2nd ed, London.