CIRCULAR ECONOMY

In order to be a sustainable city, Weddell needs to implement circular economy. It could be

achieved by designing a system for Weddell that flows continuously while preserving environment
and diminishing waste as much as possible. Other important aspect to be a sustainable city is
generating a clean energy to preserve our natural resources and avoid unnecessary waste that
could harm the environment.

Water
Management
Agricultural

Waste
Management Energy Food Supply

Manpower
Recycle/
Industrial
Reuse

Figure 1.

Weddell, a site with 6000 ha in area, is located between two rivers that are flowing to the sea,
Elizabeth River and Black River. This river could be developed to be an energy source and help
agricultural sector of the city. Waste from the agricultural sector could also be utilized as an energy
source while the products is used to improve Weddell’s economy and food supply. However, that
is not all the energy source that Weddell can get. According to its location and climate, Weddell is
suitable to produce clean energy from the solar power.

Other than to meet the energy needs of the residents of the city, all the energy produced could be
utilized for the industrial sector of the city. With a significant amount of labors and energy, the
Industry of the city will be improved a lot. There are a couple of industries that suits Weddell, it will
be explained more later. Waste from these industries will be managed, where some will get
recycled or reused, some will be processed to obtain energy, and the waste water will be
processed to get clean water that could be useful for the Weddell. All the aspects mentioned above
will be explained further in the next section.
Water Management

Considering the geological aspect of Weddell, there are two suggestions that will be useful for
water management of the city, building a dam and a tidal power generator. A dam could be used
as water storage and generating hydroelectric power. Hydroelectric power and tidal power
generated can reduce the cost of electricity, which can generate more electricity than normal
thermal power.

In addition to be used as a water storage, a dam could benefit the agricultural sector of the city. It
could help the irrigation of the farms. Weddell’s climate is divided into wet and dry seasons. To
maintain the soil fertility rate of Weddell’s farms during dry seasons, the water storage could be
used for irrigation. There are several cities that applied this system such as Avon Dam, Bendeela
Recreational Area, Brogo Dam, Blowering Dam and Menindee Lake, etc. (WaterNSW, 2018).

The average height drops of Darwin Area (Darwin Average Heights, 2018) is similar to Oberan
Dam with 34 meters, while the size of the lake and the total operating capacity can be designed
similarly at four km2 and 45 GL, respectively (WaterNSW, 2018). Due to this similarity, it is
reasonable to state that building a dam in Weddell is foreseeable.

Figure 2. Oberan Dam (WaterNSW, 2018)

The other important aspect that needs to be considered in building a dam or tidal power generator
is that it could harm the environment to some extent. For this reason, it is important to assess and
evaluate this plan further to gain more understandings to its effect on surrounding environment.

Agricultural

According to the Litchfield Subregion Land Use Structure, Weddell consists of largely native forest
in Government ownership and a smaller area of privately owned rural land. Weddell is a site with
6000ha area, which demonstrates its potential to develop various types of agriculture. In this
project, the agricultural is focused on how it could benefits Weddell as an energy source and to
fulfill its food supply.
 The characteristic of Weddell’s climate is typical
tropical climate, which means Weddell is good for
animal husbandry and plantation. Therefore, the
sustainability of agriculture foods need to be
considered. From Fig.3 after food production, they
will be aggregated and distributed to different
factories, depending on the type of food. After food
processing, they will be sent to market so people can
have access to buy them. Then it is followed by the
consumption from people that will produce a large
amount of waste. Finally, the waste is recycled and
Figure 3. (Wilkins, 2014)
the recovery is sent back to food production.

Fig 2 concentrates on the energy especially

Plant
electricity. Crops depend on plant Photosynthesis

photosynthesis such as Corn Kernels. The

Makes More Yields More
agricultural waste and energy crops can be Fertile Soil Crops

sent to advanced gas filters that have special

advanced generator sets and are able to
generate electricity. The gas filters will
To soil generates
produce biochar that is degradable to soil. Enhancer electricity

The increase of soil provides better condition

for photosynthesis. Eventually, it can be Biochar

noticed that this positive feedback loop

Figure 4. (Sarah, 2015)
increases agricultural production.

Energy

Energy supply has always been a major issue in the development of a city, especially a newly
development city as people not only concern about the stability and safety of their energy supply
but also the sustainability.
 Figure 5. Australia’s primary energy production
source: Department of Industry and Science (2015) Australia Energy Statistics, Table J

In Australia, fossil energy sources like coal and natural gas have been the major part of energy at
all time. However, as people worry more and more about climate changes and other environmental
problems in recent years, we desired to develop clean energy sources, including solar power,
wind power, hydro power, tidal power, etc.

Figure 6. Solar Power radiation resource in Australia

source: Global Energy Network Institute

Solar is one of the promising clean and sustainable energy sources that attract many people
around the world. In Weddell which has a tropical climate, the solar energy resource is relatively
rich which allows us to reduce the percentage of other traditional energy sources and replace
them by solar energy. In addition, there is a trend toward the development of smart grid that the
power generation can be distributed. Applying more solar power would also benefit local solar
power related industries.
 Unlike solar power, wind power resource in
Weddell is not rich. In Australia, wind power
stations are better to be placed in south and
northeast Australia. It does not mean that
Weddell cannot be powered by wind power,
for it may be generated and delivered from
somewhere else. Therefore, in the urban
planning for city Weddell, wind power would
not be our focus.

Figure 7. wind resorce in Australia

source: Wind map Australia, Ecocitizen Australia

Industrial

To establish a smart city, there is no alternative of having a practically worthy business model.
The business model should interact with social communities properly. Economy is a key factor of
a city’s well-being. Responsible investment should be the way to go for a sustainable city.
Environmental, social and governances are the main aspects for responsible investment. The
essential industries for Weddell are given below:
1. The Financial Industry
2. The Business Consulting Firms
3. Metals and Mining Industry
4. Energy and Utilities Industry
5. Industrial and Material Industry
6. Healthcare/Pharmaceutical Industry

Investment in these industries should be in such a fashion that the following aspects are
maintained.
1. Environmental Aspects: Industries should be built minimizing deforestation. Greenhouse
gas emission, waste and pollution must consider for investment. Overall climate change
should not be affected by industries.
2. Social Aspects: Investors should never allow child labor for benefit. Opportunities should
be same for every citizen, including indigenous communities. Work rights for mass should
be strictly followed. Workers should have proper health and safety measures. A good
relation between employer and employee is crucial for development.
 3. Governance Aspects: The industries should have a good board diversity and structure. It
should be free from any political lobbying and bribing. Tax should be paid according to law.

Waste Management

City is a huge creature that eats large amounts of fresh supplies, spend ultra-amounts of energy
and produced tons of waste in a single day. The waste includes of solid trash, waste water and
air pollution. There are different ways to disposal and management to get rid of those wastes.
Theoretically, disposal, recycling and energy recovery can cover all the methods of waste
management.

Recycling is accepted widely nowadays as a project of collection, and reuse of materials such as
paper, metal, plastic, glass, etc. All materials should be collected separately and reused in the
next reproduction step. Its efficiency depends upon the status of collection. There is no doubt that
this progress will take an enormous budget for Weddell.

Despite the recyclable waste, the part left cannot be used for any recycling and re-use purpose.
In this circumstance, the waste is used to produce heat, electricity or even fuel. The energy
recovers have taken 16% of the waste management, but in Australia, the ratio is only 1%(Waste
Hierarchy). Although it might cause new challenges such as air waste and ash left behind, it gives
us a space to make the waste to be reduced to zero.

Landfill is the most common method of solid waste disposal. It is the oldest and cheapest way to
make the waste disappear from city, even though the waste is just transferred deep into the
ground. Furthermore, it may cause unexpected damage to soil and underground water in a long
term unless the waste is collected properly and treated in advance before buried. From the
perspective of waste management, landfill site will be the final step of waste management after all
other ways have been used for recycling and recovery.

Coming to Weddell City, most of the wastes are contributed by organic waste, metal, plastics and
paper waste (Australian National Waste Report 2016, Page 45). However, the resource recovery
of NT is below the national’s average line for the economy issues except the plastics recycle.
Besides that, the energy recovery takes slight part in waste management and the rest goes to
disposal, which mostly equals landfill. But new technology, which is called, brings another solution
to disposal. City of Sydney has set up a plan for renewable gas which is produced from waste.
Advanced gasification technologies have been used in many cities in Japan, North Europe. In
Finland, only 6% of the waste is left and disposed to landfill by Advanced Gasification
Technologies (Advanced waste treatment master plan, P.92). The cost may be large for this new
facility, the return is receivable in a long-term for decades.
References

Dams in NSW, 2018. WaterNSW WATER SUPPLY Our Dams. Available from:
https://www.waternsw.com.au/supply/visit.

Darwin Average Heights, 2018. City of Palmerston Building & Planning. Available from:
http://www.palmerston.nt.gov.au/building-and-planning/developments/the-heights-durack.

Sarah, B., (2015) Growing Power: Exploring energy needs in smallholder agriculture Retrieved
from https://energypedia.info/wiki/Energy_Needs_in_Smallholder_Agriculture

Wilkins, J. and Eames-Sheavly, M. Discovering the Food System: An experiential learning

program for young and inquiring minds, Cornell University, Department of Nutritional Science and
Horticulture.2014

Ball, A., Ahmad, S., Bernie, K., McCluskey, C., Pham, P., Tisdell, C., ... & Feng, A. (2015).
Australian Energy Update 2015. Australia Government Department of Industry and Science:
Canberra, ACT.

Australian National Waste Report 2016. Retrieved March 26, 2018, from
https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/d075c9bc-45b3-4ac0-a8f2-
6494c7d1fa0d/files/national-waste-report-2016.pdf&p=DevEx,5067.1

City of Sydney - Council - Home. Retrieved March 26, 2018, from

http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/vision/towards-2030/sustainability/waste-management

Waste Hierarchy. (n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2018, from http://www.newenergycorp.com.au/what-

we-do/waste-hierarchy/

Advanced Waste Treatment Master Plan - City of Sydney. (2014, March). Retrieved March 26,
2018,from http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/215204/2014-
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