6-+Transport,+Energy+&+Communication

**Transport:**
Could we resort to horses and carriages, pigeons for mail, boat, bicycles (raises the questions do we want cement roads?) A few selected kind of transport (if we can get any) such as cars preferably hybird ones?

I like the question about wanting cement roads. Even if we have horse and carriages we would still need to make roads of some kind, which would result in destroying part of the environment. Maybe cement roads, but have only a few main ones to limit damage and ensure good access to all settlements.If we left them as dirt roads there's the potential that they could become impassable due to heavy rains, whereas cement roads ensures we can use them regardless of weather? I like the idea of hybrid vechiles, but maybe we should have just buses and trucks (for transporting goods) that are hybrid, so less people polluting? Also less congestion, as no one would have a car, which means less roads needed to ease congestion. I also like the idea of bicycles and boats, as boats would make it easier and possibly quicker to get to other settlements. The bicycles fit with us not repeating past mistakes, as there's no pollution.

__** Alternative ideas: **__ Can we implement a flying fox system that can transport not only people but supplies? If this was possible it would be a envirnmentally friendly and sustainable way to transport throughout the settlements. It wouldnt require many materials to establish and would also bring enjoyment to the community. Every person has dreamed about how wonderful it would be if we could fly just like a bird in a sky. This dream could be possible if we implemented the idea of using solar powered jet packs to travel throughout the island. The solar panels would esure no harmful emissions were discharged into the environment. It would also mean that we wouldnt have to build roads or bridges which futher distrubs the natural environment. [|Jetpack picture]
 * __ Recommendations: __**

Due to the distance of the settlements, the use of boats and helicopters are reasonably sustainable options and would make it easier to assist people quickly in emergency situations or in the event we are cut off from the rest of the island due to rainfall. For example if people were injured in the mountain regions, the helicopter is the safest and quickest way to help people in need. Roads make it easier for everyone to stay connected, but to limit pollution and the amount of roads needed a hybrid bus service could be established that enables everyone to commute between settlements, which would keep destruction of the environment to a minimum, as there would be fewer roads. A flying fox service would also be possible, as there would be little destruction to the environment and would allow people to travel quickly and efficiently to one another. The flying fox service could also be used to transport goods and mail efficiently and it would also reduce traffic and therefore reduce pollution to the island. This service would be used by our settlement for transporting goods from the mountain, down to the settlement and also for travel between settlements. [|Flying Fox picture]

**Communication:**
Is there a chance for Gem island to step back in time and implement some old yet effective ways of commuincating. Are we going to do more harm then good to the island by implementing to many modern ways of communication? As a team we need to consider whether we should have some alternative forms to communicate with our fellow settlements for example: - Smoke signals - Flairs - Alarms - A piece of string with a can on each end - Birds to deliver mail - Sending messages in a bottle

__** Recommendation: **__ We want to be able to have communication that is sustainable to the environment yet efficient and reliable for all purposes. One strategy we could implement is having a postal service to communicate with fellow neighbours on the island. This strategy is not only envrionmentally friendly it is cost effective and efficient. For communicating with the rest of the world we recommend implementing solar powered telecommunication towers on the island. These towers have been implemented in other countries such as India for generating back up power to rural areas and have been proved to be effective. We recommended that all communication on the island is powered completely by the solar powered telecommunication towers. This form of communication is envrionmentlly friendly as there are no carbon emissions that can have harmful affects the environment. Another benefit of implementing these towers is the fact they are low maintenance and have little operational cost. A strategy we can implement in order to have internet access could be the same one used in the remote villages of Cambodia. Basically what it is, is having motorbikes with a small box and an antenna at the rear of the motor cycle which recieves emails through a small wi-fi card. These motor cycles moves through out the day to different parts of the villages where the villagers can pick up signals on their solar paneled powered computers. There would be a site where the satellite dish would be located, as the motor cycles passs through villages would be able to download and retrieve any outgoing emails, at the end of the day the motor cycles would return to the hub to transmit all collected emails to the internet from any point of the globe. We would have to import the satellite dish, motor bikes (a more sustainable idea would be to use horses and carts), computers and solar panels. [|Can with strings]

**Energy:**

Due to the location of our settlement, on the far east side of the island in the valley, there are many renewable and sustainable energy options available for us to use. As we are enclosed by quite high mountainous land, it could be valuable for us to invest in wind turbines on the high areas surrounding us, giving us energy from wind power, with little disruption to the natural landscape. It would also be a good idea to use solar energy to power everyday things in our settlement. Main buildings in our village could have solar panels on the rooves in high sun areas to supply additional power needs, such as personal lighting, for those individual dwellings.
 * __ Recommendation: __**

Hydro power options are limited as the water supply in our settlement's river may not be strong enough for the required amount of power.

A power station would also need to be considered so the energy created can be stored and consumed when it was needed. As for distributing the power throughout the island we would need to create either above ground powerlines (As they are less harmful to the environment) or a system that could involve storing the energy in some sort of battery or device until it was needed. It may be more effective for us to not contribute energy supply to the rest of the island and just supply power to our settlement. [|Wind turbine picture]