Formosa HUB – Hyperloop transportation HUB

Project for MID, Integrated design master for Computational Design. Team: Planchart, Santodomingo, Jardim. MID – CD & FD / P8 lead by Professors Daniel Artzman and Hans Sachs. TH OWL, Technische Hochshule OStewestfallen Lippe, Detmold. Germany. 2019

This hub is an opportunity for an European and African Connection. A route through the European and African coasts that allows the delivery of desalinated water to Tanger, Rabat and Casablanca for an exchange supply chain between the continents. The project consists of submarine and hyperloop routes that transport not only people and produces, but also takes advantages of the large areas of underwater structure exposed to salted water, to introduce a desalination integrated system along the routes and deliver fresh water in the supply routes.

The Location chosen is Portugal. Mayor energy source come from fossil fuels, and renewable resources are still minor energy sources. Bio-waste, fuel and geothermal energy followed by solar, tidal and wind power production, as well as hydroelectric power are implemented but don’t represent yet the amount that fossil-fuel-energies do in the global economy.

Ground water represents more than 90% of the world readily available fresh water. 1,5 Billion people depend on it. Once contaminated it is difficult to decontaminate. In a near future, underground resources could face depletion. Water in less developed countries is used as political weapon upon people, neighboring countries might have very different sizes of water resources, leaving some countries isolated from water access in the future. Droughts and floods threaten groundwater resources and climate change exercises big pressure on water availability in the future. Water, now-a-days is starting to be called “the new oil”.