New Environmental Policies Suggestions

Democracy 4
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There’s an answer on the poll for more environmental policies. Presumably, if popular, this would result in something much like the “more religious policies” poll answer, which gave us four tight policies that didn’t shake the game up too much.

These suggestions are intended to inform those potential four policies, or may be drawn from for a larger overhaul of the way the game models the challenge of the environment, which would benefit from blue bubbles (simulations) modeling energy supply and biodiversity, and climate catastrophe situations, which I generally assume the devs plan to use in an expansion, if ever.

Anyway, here:

Green Solutions

  • In-Pipe Municipal Hydropower - The use of turbines in municipal water systems that have their own pressure and height, allowing for the installations of turbine networks generating micro hydropower. (Cost-effective, but has a long inertia. Eventually adds to Energy Supply, and pleases Environmentalists without upsetting Capitalists)
  • Rainwater Collection & Filtration - The localised collection of rainwater from gutters and drains. At high levels, this policy automatically reintroduces rainwater into systems suitable for grey water, such as plant watering, external cleaning, and flushing toilets. (combats the Water Crisis, helps the Environment and reduces the cost of State Water Company / hurts the private water industry)
  • Greywater Recycling - The introduction of systems that filter and reuse grey water from showers, sinks, or dishwashers on site for blackwater systems like toilets (Fights Water Crisis, helps the Environment and pleases Environmentalists and reduces the cost of State Water Company / hurts the private water industry)
  • Offshore Microgeneration Platforms - Offshore facilities operating massive wind farms, solar flotillas, and wave generators supplying massive amounts of energy via subsea cable, potentially adapting offshore oil rigs into green alternatives that reuse some of the existing infrastructure. (Costly, with high-Inertia, but has a big effect on Energy Supply)
  • Biomass Fire Generation - Presented as an alternative to fossil fuels, the burning of biomass makes for a potentially net-neutral alternative to coal and oil, allowing for sustainable forests and agricultural waste to be used to generate energy with a comparatively lower CO2 output than the fossil alternative. (At low levels, this actually contributes to emissions, and is only carbon neutral at about the 3/4 mark, with a small positive influence at high levels. Environmentalist opinion varies accordingly. Increases Energy Supply, and aids Environment at any level.)
  • The Deurbanization Policy Pack
  • The Green New Deal Policy Pack

(The water policies here are invaluable if the game ever wants to include equatorial nations that face a significantly higher chance of facing a water crisis, such as the UAE, Israel, or any nation returning from Democracy 3: Africa.)

Futuristic Solutions - These are a set of futuristic concepts like self driving car laws and stem cell research that we already have in the game. They realistically wouldn’t show strong results in the short term, much like the autocars and stem cells, but could contribute to a kind of green technological advantage situation in abundance.

  • Solar Window Trials - The use of transparent solar panels as skyscraper windows. Multinationals looking for a green image are eager to trial such concepts at their facilities (Cheap, and contributes to Energy Supply, pleasing Environmentalists and Capitalists.)
  • Piezoelectric Road Trials - The use of Piezoelectric systems in roads to generate high volumes of power from the weight of passing vehicles (Cheap, and adds to Energy Supply, pleasing Environmentalists and Motorists.)
  • Hydrogen Fuel Trials - Studies working toward zero-emission high-grade hydrogen fuels capable of running airplanes and space rockets as well as all transportation systems. (Pleases Environmentalists.)
  • Magnetic Delivery Network Trials - The construction of small form factor magnetic motor pipes which deliver goods to localised distribution centres in the most cost-effective way possible (Cuts car usage, traffic congestion, and postal service cost. Tiny bump to Productivity and International Trade.)
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I can’t imagine how expensive Piezoelectric Roads would be.

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Yeah, comprehensively, but these would be trials In high throughput areas to prove the technology.

2 Likes
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Let’s start:

On the futuristic side

  • Piezoelectric roads, I didn’t found any prize mark but let’s do some calculations.
    W=F*d W(work) F (force) d(distance)
    For a two ton car, and a piezoelectric that lowers 5 mm
    W=10x2000x0.005=100J/car
    Asume a car every 2 seconds in a spot
    P=100J/car x car/(2s spot)=50W/spot
    So we have a energy sorce, of a low density even without considering eficiencies and that all that energy would come as an increased fuel consumption in cars.
  • Magnetic delivery, i think it would be cheaper and simpler a pneumatic transmision.

And now let’s spam a bit with my other threads on enviromment.
A new look at the enviromment
Energy industry

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  • Some good examples of other ways to squeeze energy out of water and air.
  • There are plenty of claims that the biomass burning supply chain isn’t carbon neutral, but you may as well claim electric cars aren’t either. The trick is that they’re obviously supposed to be. This was why I proposed the policy model the potential for the solution to do more harm than good if incompletely conceived.
  • The idea that piezoelectric roads would be designed so inefficiently that they costed an equal and opposite fuel consumption in cars, while a critical argument against the technology, is wholly conjecture. What if instead, they were designed well? What if instead, they worked great? Perhaps the policy ought to refer to piezoelectronics in general, with road trials sitting at the high end?
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  • That is that they are better that the alternative, not being carbon neutral.
    And once I’ve seen the videos, I want to say something diferent, that it’s relation with envirommentalist and the enviromment should be the opose of the one you propose, because in those situations, like farms, wood mills and pulp mills, you need relative little incentive to achieve your result, but a large investment would mean that wood and energy crops in general may be used, instead of only byproducts being used.
  • Let me introduce you to the first law of thermodynamics:
    dE/dt=0
    On a closed system
    Energy_in=Energy_out
    For our case
    Energy_in_car=Energy_out_car+Electricity
    So:
    Electricity=Energy_in_car-Energy_out_car
    All electricity produced must come at least with an equal decrease of energy car.