Infrastructure

• CityBeautiful (YouTube channel ALL ABOUT cities and infrastructure)

  • City Lab (Website Devoted to City Planning. LOTS of GREAT info)

  • Cities Are Sinking Under the Weight of Urban Development

  • An Introduction to Zoning

  • US Zoning Explained

  • US Zoning vs. European Zoning

  • Zoning in the City of Minneapolis

  • Gridded Streets

  • Superblocks

Current:

• Water Treatment and Distribution Reading

• Potable Water Distribution Systems

• Potable Water Towers and Tanks

• Potable Water Transmission

• Minneapolis Water Treatment Facility (Slideshow; 2019)

• Minneapolis Water Treatment Facility (Video/Tour)

• Urban Cisterns

• Desalination in California

Future:

•  5 Glimpses of the Future of Water

• Carbon Nanotubes: Future of Water Filtration?

• Water Microgrids: The Future of Water Infrastructure Resilience

• Smart Ways to Improve Water Infrastructure using IoT to manage and monitor water systems

• Genesis Systems: Tomorrow's Water Depends on Today's Innovation

• What to Do With Desalination Brine?

ELECTRIFICATION:

• • How Much Electricity Does it Take to Power the World? 

  • Current and Projection Electrification in the US (EXCELLENT RESOURCE!!!)

• Why is Electrify Everything First On the List For Climate Action?

• Discover How Electrified Cities Will Look, Sound, and Function

• Electrification 101

• Building Electrification 

• Electrification in Cities is Pivotal to Just Sustainability Transitions

• Smart Systems and Electrification

• Building Electrification 101

• Why Building Electrification?

• Energy Efficiency 101

• Weatherization and Energy Efficiency

• Why Wonky Building Codes Could Be Key in Reducing MN’s Climate Impact

GENERATION:

• • Renewable Energy (EXTENSIVE!)

Nuclear:

• Nucleur Fusion: How It Works

• ITER: Our Current Best Shot at Fusion Energy

• Fusion Power Explained (Video)

• Fusion Breakthrough (2022)

Solar:

• Solar Roof Shingles

• Floating Solar Arrays: Solar arrays set-up in bodies of water vs on land.

• Solar Panels On Water Canals

• Residential vs. Small Commercial vs. Utility Scale Solar Power

Waste to Energy:

• Brazil Soccer Field Harnesses Player Power

• CopenHill: Massive waste-to-energy plant that is also an artificial ski hill

• MORE CopenHill (with more photos)

• How Your Hot Showers And Toilet Flushes Can Help the Climate (Waste to Energy)

Green Hydrogen:

• • Green Hydrogen for Industrial Power Generation

Wind:

• • Wind Farms

  • Denmark Energy Island Project

Hydroelectric:

• • Dams

TRANSMISSION/DISTRIBUTION:

Transmission/Distribution Equipment:

• Power Distribution Reading

• Power Distribution (Graphic)

• Transmission Line Components

• Transmission Towers

• Electrical Distribution Equipment

• Typical Utility Pole

Electrical Grid:

• How Does the US Electrical Grid Work?

• SMART GRIDS!

• How to Build A More Resilient Power Grid

• • The 4 Main Pillars of Enhancing Utility Grid Resilience

  • 6 Tech Driven Factors Will Help Make A Truly Modern Grid

  • Microgrids

• The US Military and Microgrids

  • Why Lasers Could Help Make the Electrical Grid Greener

STORAGE:

• LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES: SEE XPLORLABS TAB!!!

• Nissan Repurposing EV Batteries for Power Storage

• Li-Cycle: (Company that looks to recycle lithium-ion batteries at scale)

  • Xcel Energy Becker, MN Battery Facility

  • Vanadium Redox Batteries (short video)

  • Weird, Huge Batteries May Be Key to Avoiding Climate Catastrophe

• The Importance of Public Spaces

• Urban Forests and "Rewilding"

• Benefits of Urban Trees

• Metropol Parasol

• Bosco Verticale in Milan, Italy

• Santalaia in Bogata, Columbia

• Urban Sequoia

• Wildlife Corridors

Circular Economy/Zero-Waste:

• The Circular Economy In Detail

• European Commission Circular Economy Action Plan

• A Circular Economy Could Save the World

• Why a Circular Economy is the Future of Business

• Case Study: Ljubljana, Slovenia: From Zero Recycling to Zero Waste

• The Relationship Between Urban Waste and Systematic Racism

Solid-Waste Strategies: 

• The End of Trash (long but EXCELLENT article from National Geographic)

• Plasma Gasification: : Waste to Energy

  • Pulau Semakua (Semakua Island) - Singapore’s unique solution for handling the city/state’s solid waste.

  • Roosevelt Island, NYC, and Its Pneumatic Trash Tube System

Rail:

• Equity in Transportation Planning

• Electrified Railways

• Magnetic Levitation (MagLev) Trains

• Hyperloop Explained

• 700 MPH in a Tube: The Hyperloop Experience

• Hyperloop Port

Autonomous Vehicles:

• EZ-PRO Autonomous Vehicles

• Self-Driving Cars

Roads:

• Street Grids and Cities

• TopMix Permeable Pavement

• Electrified roads in Sweden

• Plastic Roads Development in Ghana

• SafeLane (only useful in a snowy location)

• ENLIL Vertical Access Wind Turbine

• Solar Roads (and some other stuff)

• Piezo Electric Roads

• Smart Highways (we are well on our way to this being a thing)

• Robotic Asphalt Repair Machine

• Painting Centerlines: Making Roads Safer

• Tunnels

• Retaining Walls

eVTOLS:

• Electric Air Taxi (EVTOLs)

• eVTOL Sky Tower

• Lilium Vertiports

• Urban Air Mobility

Other:

• • Transportation and Climate Change Mitigation

  • Elevated Tunnel Bus

  • Elevated Pods

  • Gyroscopic Public Transportation System

  • POIMO Inflatable electric scooters. Kind of a novelty, but an interesting idea.

Pedestrian and Cycling:

• • Pedestrian and Bicycle Infrastructure

  • Sidewalks and Bike Lanes

  • "Rails to Trails"

  • Cycling Lanes

Ships:

• • Ports

  • MORE on Ports

  • Electric Ships

Current:

• Wastewater Reading

• What Happens After You Flush the Toilet?

• Stormwater Collection

• London Fatberg

• Bioswales

• Highland Park (St. Paul, MN) Stormwater Management Pond

Future:

• Greywater Action: For A Sustainable Water CultureBacteria May Supercharge the Future of Wastewater Treatment

• Wastewater Treatment Plants Can Become Sustainable Biorefineries

• The zero-power sewage plant inspired by cows

• Human Waste to Edible Protein Paste