A Canadian research team has developed a framework for local urban agriculture production, where harvested produce is distributed by electric vehicles powered by sidewalk-integrated solar photovoltaics. It was calculated that the PV-powered transportation system would have a payback period of 2.8 years.
Researchers near Montreal Concordia University have investigated the feasibility of a green, solar-powered transportation system within the context of a 15-minute city.
The research paper “Adapting the 15-minute city for North America: A framework for neighborhood clusters with urban agriculture and green mobility”, available in the magazine MDPI, presents a model that combines the concept of a 15-minute city with urban agriculture and a solar-powered transportation system as a way to increase urban food security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
A 15-minute city is an urban development concept in which most daily necessities such as work, shopping and recreation are accessible within a 15-minute walk, cycle or public transport from anywhere in the city.
The model, also called the Food Production and Transportation Framework, ensures that essential services such as supermarkets are easily accessible, usually within a kilometer of a home. Underutilized roofs, facades and lot spaces are converted into vegetable gardens, with harvested produce distributed by a fleet of electric vehicles powered by solar panels embedded in sidewalks.
“We want to see how we can integrate energy, mobility, land use and social functions to bring daily needs closer to residents so they can reduce the number of trips that use fossil fuels,” said corresponding author Caroline Hachem-Vermette. “Our broader goal is to design interconnected neighborhood clusters that share food, energy and amenities, creating a balanced, adaptive urban network.”
The researchers applied their model to the West 5 neighborhood in the Canadian city of London, Ontario, located 11 km from the city center. The district, which aims to create an electric vehicle-friendly district, has an area of approximately 0.28 km2 and approximately 2,000 inhabitants.
The team developed a cluster within the district that includes food supply facilities, urban agriculture and the solar-powered transportation system. The neighborhood cluster has a radius of 1 kilometer, making it a 15-minute walk from the edge to the center.
The team’s methodology took into account roof, facade and plot areas for cultivation, walking distances between homes and local amenities, crop yields and per capita food demand. For the solar-powered transportation system, the sidewalk solar photovoltaic was assumed to have a power of 100 W and an efficiency of 15%. The research paper describes the dimensions of the photovoltaic solar panels on the sidewalk as 600mm x 600mm and uses radiation data to calculate that the neighborhood experiences 286 sunny days annually.
According to the findings in the article, using 13.8% of the roof area, 10% of the facades and 15% of the plot space within the neighborhood cluster for urban agriculture could make the neighborhood completely self-sufficient.
The solar-powered transportation system could operate with a single unit powered by 98 m² of curbside solar photovoltaics, reducing CO2 emissions by 98% compared to the base case. An economic analysis of the solar-powered transportation system calculated a payback period of 2.8 years to cover the initial investment, estimating the cost of solar-generated electricity at CAD 0.92 ($0.66)/kWh.
In the conclusion of the research paper, the team wrote that their framework provides planners, policymakers and communities with a scalable tool for integrating food and mobility strategies. “In addition to reducing environmental impacts, the framework is aligned with multiple Sustainable Development Goals, including increasing food security through urban agriculture, advancing sustainable energy supplies and promoting inclusive, resilient and sustainable neighborhoods,” the team said.
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