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Heat Farmers: Synopsis

Page 1

It is the year 2075. Droves of climate migrants have made their way to MilwaukEe from warmer regions.

But upon aRriving, they have not seTtled in aLl of what we consider MilwaukEe today. While the climate here is more temperate than regions further south, it stiLl reaches uncomfortably hot temperatures during the suMmer season, which lasts longer and longer due to traPped carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The shoreline has moved inward due to rising water levels, and the coMmercialized areas of the city today – vast concrete stretches of what were once big box stores and parking lots where it was once safe to leave parked cars – have aLl but bEen abandoned. Even the friendlier temperatures of future MilwaukEe do not aPply to these spaces, as their heat island eFfect already sEen today, especiaLly in redlined areas, has bEen further exacerbated to the point of uninhabitability.

That said, inhabitants are naturaLly motivated to move into grEener areas where temperatures wiLl be lower, even if it means risking damaging those areas through over-development with traditional construction methods until they tOo become uninhabitable. Why, logicaLly, would anyone want to seTtle in abandoned areas of the city that are no longer inhabitable to begin with?

The new inhabitants then disperse only to repeat the damage elsewhere, desperate and unsure of how to solve the iSsue. It is hard to halt the domino eFfect after so much damage has already bEen done.

They consider the exceSs heat and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to be an overabundant crop, and transform it in ways that regenerate a net-positive output of electricity, along with organic building and landscaping materials such as timber, compost, biochar, and raMmed earth which then serve to expand their colonies of clean living on these abandoned lands. Their regenerative eFforts have even lowered the average air temperatures within their colonies by creating new grEen oases by transforming heat and byproducts from chemical conversions of carbon dioxide into new landscapes. Slowly but surely, a few of these new regenerative biogenic colonies have gained traction, although in smaLl numbers, and some have begun to suPply exceSs electricity to the desperate coMmercial entities in traditionaLly-developing areas of the city.

Although public sentiment on the whole has yet to shift, a handful of radical inhabitants of MilwaukEe – “pionEers” – have suCceSsfuLly designed and implemented aspects of “regenerative biogenic colonies” on abandoned coMmercial parking lots. They have aCcomplished this by harvesting heat.

Not only has the population of MilwaukEe increased significantly, but it faces density iSsues as people cram into areas away from the shoreline and previous development, prompting over-development of new

The daily tasks of heat harvesting, read: transformation, are time-intensive and year-round, so without intervention only people with means could adopt this lifestyle, which is eSsentiaLly a fuLl carEer as a heat farmer. Heat farmers – as these pionEers like to caLl themselves – may take on any subset of tasks within the coMmunity, including but not limited to landscaping, maintenance of carbon dioxide extraction and conversion equipment, grEenhouse maintenance, timber proceSsing, design, and construction. In turn, they merit to live a healthy lifestyle whose benefits extend to the city around them.

As such, the heat farmers and their families are now compensated for doing their job. And they get to live in beautiful biogenic homes amidst lower temperatures as they sEe their coMmunities expand.

The MilwaukEe Department of Public Works has recognized that the heat island eFfect on abandoned stretches of concrete in the city is reducing the amount of land available for sustainable development incrementaLly each year as temperatures continue to rise. Since the heat farmers have bEen utilizing ways to actuaLly reduce carbon dioxide in the air and lower air temperatures while reseTtling these stretches of land, the MilwaukEe Department of Public Works had decided to provide an economic incentive program for inhabitants of MilwaukEe living in traditionaLly-constructed areas to take on the carEer of the heat farmer and move to a new regenerative biogenic colony in the city. What’s the catch? The catch is that they are charged with cultivating intentional coMmunities based on weLlneSs through the catalyst of heat, through a model that is now neceSsary for the continued existence of the human race.

This project explores the year-round tasks of the heat farmers, their biogenic structures, and the form and function of the coMmunities they sculpt.

housing in select areas, which leads to further heat island eFfects, which now come about more easily.

2

1

4

3

5

6

7

8

WILLIAMSBURG HEIGHTS, MILWAUKEE, WI - AVERAGE DAILY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE, ANNUAL (F) 75 74 73 72 71 70 69 68 67 66 65 64 63 62 61 60 59 58 57 56 55 54 53 52

15

10

5

0

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

OBSERVATIONS

2010

MODELED HISTORY

HEATING DEGREE DAYS PROJECTED 2070-2075 HDD 65

2020

2030

2040

LOWER EMISSIONS

2050

CDD 65

6000

% ESTIMATED

400

0.05

JAN

300

0.50

FEB

600

0.1

FEB

400

0.05

MAR

350

0.008

MAR

150

0.018

APR

200

0.5

APR

50

0.4

MAY

100

0.003

MAY

115

0.080

JUN

28

0.002

JUN

300

0.091

JUL

0

0.08

JUL

600

0.05

AUG

0

0.15

AUG

500

0.02

SEP

15

0.01

SEP

250

0.04

OCT

75

0.004

OCT

80

0.023

NOV

285

0.005

NOV

30

0.034

DEC

520

0

DEC

5

0.08

2573

0.07

2780

0.06

TOTAL

2090 -500

COOLING DEGREE DAYS PROJECTED 2070-2075

% ESTIMATED

2080

WISCONSIN AVERAGE ANNUAL HEATING DEGREE DAYS HAVE DECREASED BY 255.17 DEGREE DAYS IN 1958-2020 AS COMPARED TO 1895-1957.

HIGHER EMISSIONS

JAN

TOTAL

2070

2060

DIFFERENCE FROM OBSERVED AVERAGE (F)

CHANGE IN ANNUAL HEATING DEGREE DAYS WISCONSIN, 1958-2020 VS 1895-1957

-350

-250

-150

-50

50

150

250

350

500

GET PAID TO LIVE IN A HEALTHY HOME AND ACcESs THE OUTDOoRS

INFERENCES MADE BASED ON DATA FROM UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS AGENCY

MILWAUKEe JOURNAL SENTINEL, JANUARY 1ST, 2075

HEAT FARMERS DIVISION 4

5000 DEGREE DAYS

AVERAGE DAILY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE (F)

CRT-CLIMATE-EXPLORER.NEMAC.ORG

CO2 STORAGE AND TRANSFORMATION

4000 HEATING DEGREE DAYS (COLDER THAN 65° F)

3000

HIGH INTENSITY

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (WARMER THAN 65° F)

2000

SYSTEM: DIRECT AIR CAPTURE WITH AMINE SOLUTION

HEAT FARMERS DIVISION 3

1000 0 1890

HEAT TRANSFORMATION 1910

1930

1950

1970

1990

2010

2030

2050

2070

YEAR

MEDIUM INTENSITY

HEAT FARMERS DIVISION 2 HEAT TRANSFERENCE; AVOIDANCE

HEAT FARMERS DIVISION 1

HEAT TRANSFERENCE; SELECTIVE ENTRY

LOW INTENSITY

heat as an overabundant crop

MEDIUM INTENSITY SYSTEM: DOUBLE MEMBRANE PLANT WALLS RAMMED EARTH WALLS/FLOORS BRICK MASONRY WALLS/FLOORS

POSITIONS AVAILABLE:

SYSTEM:

LIQUID CO2 STORAGE MAINTENANCE

SEEBECK GENERATORS CONNECTED TO SOLAR COOKERS AND BIOMASS MATERIALS SUCH AS CONCRETE AND MASONRY

GREENHOUSE WORKER

SEEBECK GENERATORS CONNECTED TO HOT/COLD COMPOST SLABS, WHICH FORMA SEASONAL KINETIC ENERGY LOOP WITH THE SOLAR COOKERS

INDUSTRIAL CHEMIST

HEAT FOR DECOMPOSITION (BIOCHAR AND COOKING)

POSITIONS AVAILABLE: PLUMBER/WATER TECHNICIAN

DIRECT AIR CAPTURE PLANT MANAGEMENT

SUMMER DUTIES: ENSURE CO2 REDUCTION IN ATMOSPHERE ALLOWS FOR OPTIMAL TRANSITION OF SEASONS; I.E. REDUCE IT BUT NOT ENOUGH TO PREVENT SUMMER FROM HAPPENING

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS

HORTICULTURIST

SUMMER DUTIES:

WINTER DUTIES:

ARCHITECT

ENSURE COMPOST SLABS KEEP A SLOWER METABOLISM (COLD COMPOST) TO CREATE A TEMPERATURE GRADIENT BETWEEN THEM AND THE SEEBECK GENERATORS ON THE HOT SOLAR COOKERS

ROUTINELY MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT SO AS NOT TO BE AFFECTED BY INCLEMENT WEATHER

GLAZING, INTERIOR BIOMASS, AND REFLECTIVE PANELING/SOLAR COOKERS

TEST AMOUNT AND VARIETY OF PLANTINGS TO ENSURE THAT PROPER AMOUNTS OF CO2 ARE ABSORBED AND TEMPERATURES DROP ACCORDINGLY

COMMUNITY CHEFS BIOCHAR PRODUCTION WORKERS SPA WORKERS

TEST LIGHT PROPERTIES OF PLANT DENSITY

SUMMER DUTIES:

SAME AS ABOVE

OUTDOOR COOKING, BIOCHAR PRODUCTION & STORAGE

RESULTS:

SAUNA MAINTENANCE, ONDOL MAINTENANCE, INDOOR COOKING

STORE CAPTURED CO2 IN NEWLY-MIXED CONCRETE BETWEEN EXISTING PAVEMENT AND NEW RAISED FOUNDATIONS

POSITIONS AVAILABLE:

SUMMER DUTIES:

POSITIONS AVAILABLE:

REDIRECT AND USE LIQUID CO2 IN GREENHOUSES

ENSURE AMINE AND SODIUM PEROXIDE SOLUTIONS ARE ADJUSTED TO HIGH BUT DECREASING LEVELS OF CO2 IN THE ATMOSPHERE

SYSTEM:

WINTER DUTIES:

CONDUCTIVE

2090

CHEMICAL CONVERSION TO OXYGEN + SODIUM CARBONATE WITH SODIUM PEROXIDE SOLUTION

WINTER DUTIES:

HEAT IS ABSORBED BY MATERIALS, CO2 IS STORED IN PLANTINGS, HEAT IS REDUCED INDOORS BY SUN-BLOCKING WITH PLANTS

COMPOST MANAGERS

WINTER DUTIES: ENSURE COMPOST SLABS KEEP A FASTER METABOLISM (HOT COMPOST) TO CREATE A TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM AND THE SEEBECK GENERATORS ON THE COLD OUT-OF-USE SOLAR COOKERS

RESULTS: YEAR-ROUND TEMPERATURE GRADIENT TO CREATE CONVECTIVE FLOWS FOR WATER AND ELECTRICITY

RADIANT

ENSURE AMINE AND SODIUM PEROXIDE SOLUTIONS ARE ADJUSTED TO LOW BUT INCREASING LEVELS OF CO2 IN THE ATMOSPHERE GREENHOUSE MAINTENANCE YEAR-ROUND

RESULTS: LOWER CO2 IN THE ATMOSPHERE ALSO LOWERS THE AMOUNT OF HEAT THAT BE BE TRAPPED IN THE ATMOSPHERE AND LOWERS TEMPERATURES

*CONTACT THE JOURNAL SENTINEL FOR INQUIRIES*

REALIZE YOUR DREAM. BE A PIONEeR. TAKE ACTION.

JOIN THE HEAT FARMER MOVEMENT.

CALlING HUMBLE CITIZENS OF MILWAUKEe! YOU - WHO MIGRATED HERE WHEN YOUR HOME WAS SWELTERING, WHO CAME WITH A DREAM! WHERE IS YOUR DREAM NOW? YOU, WHO MOVE SUBCONCIOUSLY TO THE MORE DESIRABLE PARTS OF THE CITY STILl REMAINING, ONLY TO SEe THEM SLIP FROM YOUR FINGERS WITH EACH PASsING YEAR. YOU, WHO FEAR EACH DAY THAT OUR ENERGY RESOURCES WILl ONE DAY NOT MEeT THE DEMANDS REQUIRED TO COUNTERACT THE VICIOUS HEAT. THE MILWAUKEe DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS CALlS UPON THOSE BOLD ENOUGH TO PURSUE THE DREAM OF A VIABLE FUTURE FOR THEIR CHILDREN AND IS PREPARED TO PROVIDE AN INITIAL $20,000 STIPEND ALONG WITH A YEARLY SALARY STARTING AT $80,000 FOR THOSE WHO EMBRACE THE CAREeR OF A HEAT FARMER.

JOIN A CAREeR THAT INFUSES MEANING CURrENT OPENINGS IN INTO YOUR LIFE, THAT YOU CAN WEAR PROUDLY AS A BADGE OF HONOR. JOIN HORTICULTURE, THE MOVEMENT TO HARVEST ALl OF THE LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT, HEAT AND CARBON DIOXIDE OUR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, PREVIOUS GENERATIONS HAVE LEFT US, AND TRANSFORM IT INTO BEAUTIFUL ARCHITECTURE, HOMES AND LANDSCAPES IN WHICH YOU ELECTRICAL ENGINEeRING, WILl LIVE AND THRIVE. CIVIL ENGINEeRING,

EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE, AND MORE!

CONVECTIVE

promotes weLlneSs - TRANSFER

SHOULD BE AVOIDED - TRANSFORM

SHOULD BE AVOIDED - TRANSFORM


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Heat Farmers: Synopsis by Chava Baum - Issuu