How climate-friendly waterwheels are coming around again
"Waterwheels have been around for thousands of years.
Formerly used to drive mechanical processes such as milling or hammering, they were a crucial component in the industrial revolution.
Today, waterwheels connected to generators can produce zero-carbon electricity as they spin."
'Decentralised microgrids connected to a mix of renewables including solar and waterwheel devices could, in theory, help remote communities to become energy self-sufficient.
The generating capacity of such wheels ranges from about 300W to 1kW, according to Erhart, depending on the flow of water.
During flooding, it is possible to set up the wheel so that torrents of water can bypass it, meaning electricity generation may continue uninterrupted."
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"Cheonggyecheon, a stream that runs for about 3.5 miles (nearly 6km) through Seoul, was one of the earliest experiments in an increasing trend in cities globally: turning spaces where there was once car or rail infrastructure into spaces for pedestrians and cyclists.
It’s a powerful example of the way that these spaces can become loved and popular, along with projects such as the High Line in New York,
where an old railway track has been turned into a raised park, or the city moat in Utrecht,
where a multi-lane road (nicknamed the “motorway from nothing to nowhere”) was converted back into a canal,
in part of a huge continuing push to allow pedestrians and cyclists to dominate the city’s centre."
"For more than 600 years, it served as the city’s vital waterway, managing floods and supporting daily life since the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910).
But by the Japanese colonial period in the 1930s, it had become known as “the city’s cancer”, an open sewer that threatened public health.
After the Korean war, desperate refugees built shantytowns along its banks. In the 1960s, Seoul covered it and built an elevated highway"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/17/seoul-cheonggyecheon-motorway-turned-into-a-stream
"According to studies by the Seoul Institute, the area around the stream is now 3.6C cooler than nearby streets, creating a cool corridor through Seoul’s dense centre.
The removal of the elevated highway created new wind paths through the city, improving air circulation. Air pollution dropped significantly, with nitrogen dioxide levels falling by 35%.
Wildlife has returned, too: a 2022 survey by the Seoul Institute showed the area now hosted 666 species, including 174 animal species and 492 plant species."
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"The American Bar Association (ABA) has recognized that the Equal Rights Amendment has cleared all necessary hurdles to be formally added to the Constitution as the 28th Amendment” Biden said.
“I agree with the ABA and with leading legal constitutional scholars that the Equal Rights Amendment has become part of our Constitution.”
Biden says Equal Rights Amendment should be seen as part of US constitution
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/17/joe-biden-equal-rights-amendment
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