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An eco-city in Portugal that its makers are aiming to build by 2015 takes its cues from the nervous system.
"IF TODAY'S cities were living things, they would be monsters, guilty of guzzling 75 per cent of the world's natural resources consumed each year.
Now a more benign urban creature is set to emerge. The planned city of PlanIT Valley, on the outskirts of Paredes in northern Portugal (see map), is aiming to be an environmentally sustainable city. And, just like an organism, it will have a brain: a central computer that regulates everything from its water use to energy consumption."
"Cooking water can be collected and reused for flushing toilets. Similarly, rainwater will be collected by tanks on the "green roofs" of buildings and then filtered by the plants to remove pollutants. A series of lagoons in the city's central park will use reeds, bamboo and other plants to filter waste water, making it suitable for reuse as "grey" water in toilets and irrigation.
"Find my Kid is one example of the "Place Apps", which Living PlanIT hopes to develop by collaborating with software firms. They could be available at computer terminals dotted around the city or in smartphones. Other possible apps could help inhabitants find a parking space, for example."
"Human and organic waste will be used to generate electricity. An anaerobic digester will use enzymes to stimulate microbes to digest such waste, producing chemicals that can be fermented and distilled into biofuels to run the city's cars or to generate electricity. The process also generates by-products such as amino acids and vitamin B12, which can be sold to the pharmaceutical industry.
Dishwasher-sized digesters are also being developed for homes. Fed by a tablet containing enzymes, these would process food and human waste to generate biofuel, which can then be burned to generate electricity.
Of the remaining landfill waste, any aluminium will be extracted and used in industrial chemical reactions to generate hydrogen, which could be used as a fuel to power vehicles.
Finally, a biomass reactor will heat whatever waste cannot be recycled to 400 °C without oxygen, a process known as pyrolysis, to generate energy and biochar, which can be used as a fertiliser.
Residents will not be asked to separate plastic and glass in their trash. All waste is fed through the central digester, which cleanses materials of organic contamination, before they are separated. That means more can be recycled."