Many post-industrial cities are now returning to their long-abandoned waterfronts as potential hubs of commercial and social activity. This concept would enable coastal and riverfront cities to re-establish this connection by emphasizing the intersection of three powerful aspects of urban life: infrastructure, public space, and sustainability.
Wheels installed at derelict piers or on permanently moored barges along the riverfront harvest energy, effectively converting kinetic energy to zero-carbon electrical energy. They do so by relying on the time-tested technology of undershot water wheels: the river’s current applies a force to the submerged blades of each wheel, and this force spins the wheels, which, in turn, drive electricalgenerators. The electricity produced is then used to illuminate a system of L.E.D. streetlights.
Controllers sense when surplus electricity is available and divert it to the city’s electrical grid. At the same time, the wheels enliven the water’s edge and serve as a place for the public to gather, taking infrastructure and sustainability into the realm of celebration (excerpt from New York Times Magazine, 10 June 2009)
