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Sunday, July 30th, 2017

A Carbon-Free City Is Being Built from Scratch

Author:     John Fialka
Source:     Scientific American/Climatewire
Publication Date:     July 27, 2017
 Link: A Carbon-Free City Is Being Built from Scratch
Stephan:   I've just had enough of the disaster that is Trump and the Republican Congress. With a few exceptions, I don't think I have ever seen in my lifetime such a repugnant corrupt self-interested group of individuals. The trends in which they are involved are all negative and detrimental to the nation. So even though there are new developments we're taking a break, and today's edition looks at some of the other trends going on. This first story is about Colorado which along with California, in my view, is one of the most interesting wellness oriented states in the union. And I say that based on its social outcome data. Here is the latest. I think what we are going to see is the Blue value states increasingly adopt wellness oriented programs as the stresses of climate change become ever more urgent, even as the Red value states flounder and go into increasing crisis.

Peña Station Next
Credit: Denver Post

DENVER — Can a city built from scratch be profitable to developers and enjoyable to residents as it tries to be carbon-free?

That is the question facing owners and planners of a mostly vacant, sunburned 400-acre plot of land near this city’s sprawling International Airport as they plan an energy system with vast differences from the typical suburban subdivision.

The city, called Peña Station Next, is located at the last stop of Denver’s newly completed rail line to its airport. It’s named after Federico Peña, a former mayor and lawyer whose adroit political maneuvering helped to site both the airport and the rail line at their present location over 30 years ago.

The political uproar over the airport has long since faded, but the new city forming near it is facing engineering and economic challenges. It’s a plan that has never been attempted before. The idea is to attract a bunch of different entrepreneurs to a power system relying mainly on solar energy, a king-sized lithium-ion battery and various energy efficiency schemes […]

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