MegaWHAT?
Space of Power/Power of Space

The green energy infrastructure has become more accessible, efficient and cheaper than ever. So why don't the cities already make the switch?

The very shor answer is - we need space.

Renewable energy, depending on the source, requires a significant amount of space in comparison to its fossil fuel counterparts: As an example, the land area needed to power a flat-screen TV for a year would be 0.1 sqm for gas, 14 sqm for solar, 37 sqm for wind and a whopping 296 sqm for hydro. To put in larger context, this semester's studio is focusing on Gibraltar. A country in the south of Spain, Gibraltar has a total land surface of 670 ha, with a buildable area almost half of it (For comparison, the area of Munich 31.000 ha). Gibraltar currently has an estimated 43 MW of fossil fuel based electricity plants, and wants to start the transitioning by installing a 20 MW solar power infrastructure. 

20 megawatts used to sound like an engineering problem, however it is now a spatial design problem. Where do we find such space? Do we just put the mechanical parts of our daily lives away from the city, away from the sight, in a way sweep under a metaphorical rug? Or do we accept that maybe we don't need to expand the built-up land, even if we can, and instead embrace the needed infrastructure as part of our spaces? When we do so, keeping in mind that space is now a limited resource as well - how can we combine different functions, create synergies, make sure that space needed for energy can actually become more than just that? 

Power needs space, let's give spaces more power.