Going green is of central importance to ‘creatives’, thus this first entry centering on renewable energy. However, if The Graph (as it is known in the solar industry) pictured above is to be believed, then the question becomes, ‘What does a city that runs predominantly on solar energy look like?‘  Before addressing that question, here’s some evidence for the data above:

- In the past 50 years, 10 gigawatts of solar power (equivalent to 10 standard nuclear reactors) have been produced worldwide. 10 gigawatts will be generated in 2010 alone, enough to power 3 million homes and reduce carbon emissions equivalent to 22 million cars.
- By 2012 if not sooner, the subsidized* energy markets in California, Germany, Italy, and Japan will reach the holy grail of ‘grid parity‘, when the price of a kilowatt-hour of solar energy is the same as any other fuel source. *Global solar energy receives $11 billion in subsidies each year, vs $200 billion for fossil fuels. Obviously that’s changing.
- In 2008, solar was a $13 billion global industry, projected to hit $40 billion by 2012, conservatively speaking.
- Studies show that the cost of solar drops by 20% every time volume doubles.
- If Detroit was synonymous with the economic engine of the 20th century, then Bitterfeld (south of Berlin), Germany’s ‘Solar Valley’, may be the economic engine of the 21st, home to many of the 100 solar companies that the country is heavily supporting.
- Arizona-based First Solar has developed a solar panel at a cost of $1.14/watt, and San Jose-based Nanosolar claims theirs will be 99 cents/watt (watch it on YouTube), which is approaching grid parity.
- A third generation of dye-sensitized solar cells, which can turn any metal roof into a solar generator, is under development. First generation is crystalline silicon (90% of the present market), and the second generation is thin-film, used by the firms described above.

Read more in Fast Company magazine’s The Solar Industry Gains Ground and The Most Innovative Companies in Clean Energy.

Now, regarding what our future cities would be like, via the elimination of combustion engines, our cities would be stunningly cleaner and quieter. Though for places like downtown Copenhagen, it wouldn’t make a difference since the downtown is already car-free.  Another significant difference would be, that with the localization of energy sourcing, local economies would have less money leaving the area, and one would only hope that would lead to a higher quality of life locally as well.

How do you see a predominance of solar energy powering our cities affecting the built environment, culture and local economy? Comment below…