A future that breaks that fossil fuel addiction: Denmark’s offshore wind turbines currently provide 25% of their energy needs. Plans are set to double that capacity by 2020. The world’s largest solar array farm was planned for California, but Arizona-based First Solar recently announced plans to build a 2,000 megawatt plant capable of powering 3 million homes in Ordos, China.
In a more futuristic move, a winning design team in an Italian competition proposed repurposing abandon viaducts near Calabria by installing 26 wind turbines which would produce 36 million kilowatt hours per year and solar cells to produce another 11.2 million kwh. Similar to the Highline in NYC, but larger, it would also include a park, greenhouses and farmers' market with panoramic views. Costs and other factors may make this one problematic, but it highlights the ingenuity needed to step into a fossil fuel free future.