Creating Life in the Desert

Creating Life in the Desert

Posted by johntarantino1 on Thursday, December 16, 2010 · Comments (0)

Desert Lake City
The Shimizu Corporation of Japan is pioneering new ways to help make life in desert regions more inhabitable. Their plan includes creating giant man-made lakes in the middle of the deserts. The lakes would be filled with seawater fed by canals reaching from the ocean. The lakes would be connected by canals to form a water network which would transform the desert regions into a climate that can support human development.

Artificial islands would then be built in the giant sea lakes to allow the water surrounding the cities to temper the harsh desert climate.

Securing the water would be the most important part of such a project:
1. Multiple seawater lakes, each surrounded by a continuous underground wall reaching all the way to the impermeable layer, are created.
2. Water is recirculated. Pumps are used to transport sea water to lakes. Gravity moves water to neighboring lakes.
3. A network of canals connects the manmade lakes.
4. Artificial islands are formed on the lakes.
5. The transportation network will incorporate both land and water systems.

To create the waterways, the core element of the system, pumps will be used to move water from the ocean to a manmade lake located at a higher elevation. Water collected in the lake will then flow down along natural slopes to many other lakes, eventually returning to the ocean. If necessary, booster pump stations will be established at several locations along the waterways. Creating very large lakes is expected to reduce extreme temperatures and increase humidity, creating a comfortable living environment characterized by mild weather on the artificial islands as well as in the areas around the lakes.

Such a cities would be extremely sustainable once built. Introducing seawater into the lakes will make it possible to cultivate and use marine resources. Seawater greenhouse agriculture, and energy production, fish farming, and Mangrove reforestation all would be possible around these cities.

The canals will be used to transport people and goods, promoting the development of nearby areas as well as the cities established on the manmade islands.

The manmade islands will represent high-tech oases in which technology and nature are harmoniously integrated.

For their energy needs, the cities established on the manmade islands will draw on photovoltaic systems to tap the abundant sunlight or on power-receiving facilities for solar power satellite (SPS) systems constructed on vast stretches of empty desert.

All in all, as our world becomes increasingly crowded, innovative and exciting solutions such as these will be explored in the future. It is certainly an interesting and futuristic concept.