Hypo-Loop Container Freight Transport: PART II Macro-Imagineering New World Macro-Projects

The proposed Hypo-Loop megaproject, which would tunnel under the Darién Gap, could provide a safe conduit for the transport of container freight and passengers between Panama and Colombia. The advantage of a tunnel linking Central America with South America is that transport would be via an underground low-pressure steel tube that alleviates terrestrial compromises of the environmentally sensitive Darién Gap ecosystem, which is recognized as an important natural environmental linkage between Panama and Colombia. This tunnel link is technically feasible using today’s modern tunnel boring methods that are amenable to providing infrastructure for mixed modal train transport. The Darién Gap Hypo-Loop Macro-project has the potential to provide environmentally safe transport across sensitive ecosystems by tunneling beneath them and at the same time opening up expansive transfer of goods and materials in the New World. Initiation and completion of the Hypo-Loop under the Darién Gap landscape would bring this region into the 21st Century as a showcase for enhancing the quality of life and improving New World economic systems.Key-words: Panama, Columbia, Atrato River, Hypo-Loop, passenger pods, containerized freight shipment, Darién Gap, Panama Canal, tunneling technology.===================================================================== O megaprojeto Hypo-Loop proposto, com tunelamento sob o Darién Gap, poderia fornecer um canal seguro para o transporte de contêineres e passageiros entre o Panamá e a Colômbia. A vantagem de um túnel que liga a América Central à América do Sul é que o transporte seria por meio de um tubo de aço subterrâneo de baixa pressão que evitaria o comprometimento do ecossistema Darién Gap, reconhecido como um importante vínculo ambiental natural entre o Panamá e a Colômbia. Esse  túnel é tecnicamente viável pelos métodos modernos de perfuração, capazes de fornecer infraestrutura para um modal misto. O macroprojeto Darién Gap Hypo-Loop tem o potencial de fornecer transporte ambientalmente seguro através de ecossistemas sensíveis, encapsulando-o sob eles e, ao mesmo tempo, abrindo um amplo intercâmbio de bens e materiais no Novo Mundo. No cenário do Darién Gap, a realização do Hypo-Loop faria dessa região uma vitrine sobre a melhoria da qualidade de vida e dos sistemas econômicos do Novo Mundo no século XXI.Palavras-chave: Panamá, Colômbia, Rio Atrato, Hypo-Loop, cápsulas de passageiros, remessa de carga em contêiner, Darién Gap, Canal do Panamá, tecnologia de tunelamento

Exuberant “Magic Carpet” Giga-Project Macro-Imagineering: The Arabian/Persian Gulf Shallow Draft PV-Raft Giga-Project

Processos naturais e atividades antropogênicas afetam de forma variável a diversidade climática e  ecossistêmica das nações ao redor do Golfo Pérsico-Arábico. O Magic Carpet Giga-Project, proposto como uma contramedida de enfrentamento da aridez dos ambientes regionais, é concebido como uma vasta jangada flutuante com painéis fotovoltaicos, disposta sobre o Golfo. Conectada por cabos elétricos a instalações terrestres, a energia poderia ser fornecida para cidades e para aplicações industriais que incluiriam enormes usinas de dessalinização de água do mar para uso municipal em geral. A adaptação espacial e marítima na forma de caminhos de aproximação e desvios será necessária em razão das rotas marítimas existentes, bem como do acesso adequado às plataformas da indústria petrolífera offshore que pontilham o Golfo. Os macroprojetos “The Line” e “The Loop” serão áreas bem delimitadas com vegetação controlada pelo clima, enquanto o “Magic Carpet” pode se tornar um esteio de dessalinização e fornecimento de eletricidade para a futura infraestrutura básica de cada estado do Golfo.Palavras-chave: Macroengenharia, Arábia Saudita, NEOM, jangada fotovoltaica flutuante, Golfo Pérsico-Arábico, Golfo da Califórnia. =========================================================================== Abstract: Natural processes and anthropogenic activities variably affect climate variability and meteorological drought in ecosystem-nations surrounding the Arabian-Persian Gulf. The Magic Carpet Giga-project, proposed as a counter measure to aridification of the regional environments, is envisaged as a vast floating PV-panel studded raft in the Gulf. Connected by electrical cables to land-based facilities, power could be provided for cities and industrial applications that would include enormous seawater desalination plants for municipal and commercial applications. Spatial and sea lane accommodation in the form of approach ways and bypasses will be necessary for designated sea-lanes, as well as according access to in-place offshore petroleum industry platforms dotting the Gulf. “The Line” and “The Loop” macro-projects are to be climate-controlled, vegetated enclosures whilst the “Magic Carpet” may become an electricity-desalination mainstay of the future basic infrastructure of every Gulf ecosystem-state.Keywords: Giga-project, Saudi Arabia, NEOM, floating photovoltaic raft, Arabian-Persian Gulf, Gulf of California

Soil classification

xiii+391hlm.;23c

Electrical power generation from ocean currents in the Straits of Florida: Some environmental considerations

Ocean currents contain a remarkable amount of kinetic energy and have potential worldwide capability. Initial tests to harness current power focus on the Straits of Florida where the Florida Current has a total flow capacity of about 30 x 106 m3 s-1. Generation of clean electricity from ocean currents off southeast Florida is based on a power extractor comprising open-center turbine technology. This innovative turbine provides safe passage for fish and other aquatic species. The water-column array of energy production units (EPUs) will have a 350 km2 footprint, based on a 600 m (10 rotor diameters) downstream separation distance between EPUs with a lateral separation of 400 m. Water depths for the EPU field are in the range of 100-500 m. With such a large area of water column and benthic habitat utilized, environmental concerns must be overcome, including routing of transmission lines to shore. Risks and vulnerabilities of the proposed ocean current generated electricity include failure of individual EPUs and damage to sensitive coastal marine environments during installation.Ocean power Watermill Open-center turbine Current energy