The World’s First Solar-Powered Green City Promises Sustainable, Healthy Living

Posted on April 23, 2009 in Health & Medicine, Technology, The Environment

Just inland from Fort Meyers, Florida, lies the land slated to become the world’s first solar-powered city. Babcock Ranch promises to be the first city built in harmony with the natural environment, deriving all of its power needs from a 75-megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant.

Given the current economic climate many developers are backing away from ambitious new projects, but developer Syd Kitson believes that the time is right for Babcock Ranch. President Obama’s call for a green economy and the efforts to wean the U.S. off foreign oil have many consumers making more environmentally friendly choices. Babcock Ranch advertises an eco-friendly and healthy way of life for its planned 45,000 residents.

The $2 billion development is surrounded by the 73,000 acre Babcock Ranch Preserve, which was purchased by Kitson and given to the state for conservation. It will include a range of residential options from apartments to mansions, commercial areas, and light industry. The green businesses Babcock Ranch hopes to attract would provide 20,000 local jobs, cutting down on the need to commute to larger cities. The downtown area will also boast a lake, Wellness Center, shopping, and schools. Kitson envisions a place where environmental sustainability and quality of life work together, standing as an example for the rest of the world in the transition to greener living.

“Solar is just the first step,” said Kitson. “Babcock Ranch will be a true living laboratory of the new-energy economy… innovative companies can design, build and use the renewable and efficient technologies that customers across the country and around the globe will need.”

The development is still raising the $135 million necessary to build the solar power plant, but plans to break ground on the project as early as this year, and begin building homes in 2010.