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In San Francisco, "green" energy will become a necessity
Last reviewed: 16.05.2018
In San Francisco, they approached the goal set for 2025 to meet the city's "green" energy needs by 100%. Recently, the authorities adopted a decree according to which new buildings should be equipped with solar panels for lighting or water heating of the house. The bill comes into force on January 1 of the next year.
In essence, it represents a continuation of an already existing draft law, according to which in new buildings no less than 15% of the roof must be removed for the installation of solar panels, i.e. These areas of the roof should not have any shading.
The new resolution assumes that the roof areas reserved for the solar panels will not simply remain empty, they need to be equipped with solar installations, this rule applies only to new buildings, with a height of 10 or more floors. It is worth noting that in San Francisco are very popular buildings that are more than 10 floors high, unlike sparsely populated cities, so this requirement in the bill can be considered not the most stringent.
A step made by one of the most populated Californian cities will certainly become an example for other cities, and the new bill will come close to the goal for the year 2025 for the production of clean electricity.
In the department for the environment, the program presented by Scott Wiener approved and noted that this approach will increase the solar energy of existing roofs by more than 7 MW, and this, in turn, will provide electricity to 2,500 houses. Of course, for San Francisco, this number of houses can not be considered a huge achievement, but in any case it will significantly reduce the amount of harmful emissions into the atmosphere in the future.
According to Scott Wiener, representing the Democratic Party, the use of renewable energy sources makes San Francisco independent of fossil fuels, in addition, this policy includes San Francisco city leaders who are not indifferent to the future of the planet.
By the way, in the struggle to preserve the environment, scientists propose to use materials not only for heating the house. In Massachusetts, scientists developed a polymer film that absorbs solar energy during the day and keeps heat until it becomes necessary. According to scientists, their development will be especially useful in the northern regions, but it will suit athletes, tourists and ordinary women of fashion.
The principle of the film is that it can "absorb" the energy of the sun and store it up to a certain point. Activation of heat production is possible with the help of light, electricity and other catalysts. For example, a jacket made of polymer film can be activated with a flash of light, according to the developers, the material is capable of heating up to 15 0 C and it is fairly simple to manufacture (the production process takes place in 2 stages). Now scientists are looking for application possibilities for their development not only in clothes, but also in window panes and manufactured goods.