Where can you find a floating island that produces its own energy, offers world class accommodation and has no carbon footprint? At present, nowhere, but give it eight more years and you’ll be able to visit this eco-friendly island paradise just off the shores of Cancun, Mexico.
According to Eco-Business, in celebration of the city’s 50th birthday approaching in 2020, green architect Richard Moreta Castillo has designed an offshore marine platform that will not only attract lovers of novelty accommodation, but will actually help Cancun reduce its dependency on the use of fossil fuels. It’s estimated that development of the entire project could be paid off solely by the resource and energy/water-saving revenues in just fifteen years.
Supplying energy to the city of Cancun
The most exciting news circulating about plans for the Grand Cancun is news that the complex will provide all of its own energy, and then some. Covered entirely in solar panels, the floating city will add any excess energy produced on the island to the grid that supplies the rest of Cancun. In addition to solar panels, the eco-resort will host an energy farm that will be able to harvest tidal, current and wave energy. The serpent looking tower of the complex, designed to contain residential blocks, will also contain wind turbines that will generate 40MW/h of renewable energy. Blown away? You should be.
Protecting life underwater
Water, solar and wind energies aren’t the only “green” features propelling sustainability at Grand Cancun. Much was taken into consideration when it came to protecting the underwater ecosystem and water quality of the seas. According to the Grand Cancun website, sea water will be directed (and purified) through a waste collector for floating solids and hydrocarbons while drinking water will be produced using a large inverse-osmosis desalination plant located on the platform.
If you build it, they will come
So, will tourists buy into the idea of a super eco-resort? The city may not attract the party-goers and spring breakers who crowd the beaches of Cancun during high season, but boasting underwater suites and a restaurant that offers a panoramic view of sea life, we think it’s safe to say that eco-minded travelers and novelty seekers will gather in numbers to support this one of a kind, sustainable paradise. After all, who wouldn’t want to stay in a beautiful, yet sustainable, floating city that offers visitors the comforts of home plus the extravagances of a weekend away?
Besides offering holiday-goers an underwater accommodation that will host both a research centre and marine laboratory for environmental study, the city will also be equipped with a marina, shopping malls, gardens, restaurants, congress centres, cinemas, and residential modules. You can read more about the entire energy and bio-climate plans for Grand Cancun on their website, or wait a few years and see for yourself.
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image credit: Dan Troyka
