What would is cleanest source of power for a city?

Question

As a source of power for a city, how efficient would an artificially created wind tunnel full of wind generators be? I'm thinking something 15-20 stories up. All the buildings at that level would be designed to channel air movement for the generators. Supplement that with solar power.

***As a source of power for a city, how efficient would an artificially created wind tunnel full of wind generators be? I'm thinking something 15-20 stories up. All the buildings at that level would be designed to channel air movement for the generators. Supplement that with solar power.***

More details, this concept would be for a new city designed and build from scratch. I realize current cities would be difficult to adapt to say the least. The buildings would be designed to deflect wind into this "channel"

My whole idea is to design a truly modern city from the bottom up. Make it enviromently friendly, basically, to create a symbiotic realationship between a human city and nature. I'm currently working on some forums for discussion about this if anyone is interested.

Answer 1

That is actually a good idea. I have seen design proposals for exactly that sort of thing. The cleanest forms of energy currently available are wind power and solar power (both solar thermal and solar electric). These power sources do the very least amount of damage in their manufacture and virtually no damage whatsoever as they generate power.

The cleanest conventional power source is hydroelectric. However, hydroelectric power does have significant negative environmental effects in disrupting river ecosystems.

The cleanest fossil fuel source is natural gas. It burns very clean and gives off the least amount of CO2 of any fossil fuel for the amount of energy generated.

It is a toss up between nuclear and coal is the dirtiest of all fuels. Nuclear has a terrible and unsolved waste disposal problem that will be with us for more than 100,000 years. Coal is probably the winner though because in addition to being by far the largest source of CO2, it is also the largest source of particulates, SO2 and surprisingly radiation. Coal exhaust releases several tons of radioactive elements into the atmosphere every year.

Answer 2

That could be dangerous. We usually try and prevent our buildings from having to sustain massive amounts of wind and you wouldn't want to create wind tunnels on streets and major traffic areas like those in a city. And it would be difficult to design a wind tunnel that would work no matter which way the wind is blowing. Also, not all major cities get a lot of wind. But maybe a windmill plant or something for Chicago wouldn't be a bad idea.

Answer 3

what have been the different cities? Steve: i think of perchance what became meant became one city in united states of america became ranked among the cleanest in a score of cities international extensive. Or in North united states of america. Or in first international international places. Or a minimum of a few larger physique.

Answer 4

Dam. No really Dam.

China's Three Gorges Dam's hydropower turbines are expected to create as much electricity as 18 nuclear power plants.