In this
article, (This Self-Proclaimed Micronation Has Plans for a Car-Free,
Algae-Powered City),
Adele Peters
(2016) stated the idea of soi-disant “micronation” located on a small piece of
land between Croatia and Serbia, known as “Free Republic of Liberland”,
operating without automobiles and driven by algae had been idealized by a
committee of libertarians. The writer also mentioned that in order to tackle
the issue of land scarcity, an architectural plan which involves the layering
of the city’s neighborhood while the city expands has been established.
The article
explains the concepts of algae powering the city by covering the bottom of each
neighborhood platform with genetically altered algae, of which can be used for
power. Also, in order to achieve the status of zero vehicle nation, as well as
to reduce pollution, buildings are clustered around transits to allow the
accessibility of the different parts of the city by foot. In addition to ensure
the sustainability and the functionality of this green city, economists are
engaged to promote entrepreneurship through crowd funding. However, Adele Peters’s only
stated the advantages of going green in the city but failed to look into the
effectiveness, which makes the article incomplete.
In the article, the writer
mentioned the benefits of having algae powered city which only requires the
underside of each platform to be covered with algae that does not require
sunlight to grow, not affecting daily life. But in all cases, if there’s a pros
there must a cons. Adele’s failed to state the underlying disadvantages in this
aspect which led to incompletion of the article. It is mentioned that the two
main support for algae growth are phosphorus and nitrogen (Environmental Protection Agency, ND). In order
to support a city worth of electricity, a large amount of algae are needed and
according to Patrick Déry (2007), phosphorus is a very special
nonrenewable resources and will runs out approximately 50 to 150 years from now
and this will be a trouble when it reaches its production peak as it becomes
harder to extract and getting more expensive. Thus this might make one
questioned about the sustainability of the city. It may be doable in a short
run, but if it runs out of resources to produced algae, the city will not be
able to function.
In addition, algae are needed
to be grown in controlled temperature conditions and with a considerable amount
of land and water. (RP Siegel, 2012) this led to the failure of mentioning the
how the architectural are going to tackled this situation by Adele. Furthermore
researched had shown that if algae are not carefully handled and results in
algae bloom, it will cause water pollution and can be harmful to humans if they
consume affect water and fish. (Environmental
Protection Agency, ND).
In
conclusion, although Adele Peters had discusses certain valid point regarding
how Liberland is going to achieve their green micronation, her article is
incomplete due to the incomprehensive analysis on the potential setbacks of
having algae driven city. She should had discussed on the setbacks and the ways
to counter the situations to prevent readers doubt the functionality and the
sustainability of the city.
References
Environmental Protection
Agency (2016, March 1) supports for algae growth. Nutrient pollution. https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/problem
Patrick Déry (2007, August 13) Phosphorus. Peak-phosphorus. http://www.resilience.org/stories/2007-08-13/peak-phosphorus#
Siegel R.P
(2012, April 12) land and water. Algae Based Bio-fuel. http://www.triplepundit.com/special/energy-options-pros-and-cons/algae-based-biofuel-pros-cons/
