STADIA / OPEN WORKING TABLE
Move people and goods.
Connect energy and water.
A place to turn practical questions into proposals we can examine together.
Explore hydrogen, electrification, geothermal resources and better logistics. Bring a real problem, share evidence and help develop a solution.
A SHARED QUESTION
What should we improve first?
A delivery route with too many empty trips. A ferry service dependent on fossil fuel. A community with costly drinking water. Start with a need that people can describe and measure.
This working table welcomes engineers, transport and water operators, researchers, local authorities, students and residents. Technical experience and first-hand knowledge of a place both matter.
MAKE THE IMPACT VISIBLE
What we want to improve.
What we need to reduce.
Our environmental objectives
- Reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions for the same service.
- Use less energy through efficiency, better routes and appropriate technology.
- Improve water quality and supply reliability.
- Choose energy sources and infrastructure that fit local conditions.
Green identifies an objective or an option to assess. A proposal earns its environmental case through evidence.
Pollution and waste to address
- Greenhouse gas emissions across fuel production, transport and use.
- Air pollutants from combustion, depending on the fuel and equipment.
- Empty trips, inefficient operations and avoidable energy losses.
- Untreated wastewater and poorly managed desalination brine or chemical residues.
Red highlights an impact to measure and reduce. The magnitude depends on the actual system and location.
THREE WORKING TRACKS
Different needs. Connected systems.
People and goods
Compare public transport, rail, battery vehicles, hydrogen systems and changes to routes or schedules.
- Which journeys are essential?
- Where are vehicles underused or travelling empty?
- What energy and infrastructure does each option require?
Ships and aircraft
Study direct hydrogen use and hydrogen-derived fuels alongside other options. Separate the needs of a short ferry route from those of a long-distance ship or aircraft.
- What range, payload and refuelling pattern are needed?
- What storage volume and conversion losses are involved?
- Which technical and operational requirements remain unresolved?
Water and energy
Explore wastewater treatment and seawater desalination powered by renewable electricity or suitable heat sources, including geothermal resources where available.
- What water quality and daily output are required?
- Can electricity or heat be used directly?
- Would storage improve reliability enough to justify its losses and cost?
Hydrogen: investigate the complete chain.
Hydrogen can carry energy and serve as a feedstock for other fuels. Its environmental performance depends on how it is produced, transported, stored and used. A promising application must be compared with realistic alternatives, using the same service requirements.
Direct hydrogen and hydrogen-derived fuels are different routes
A hydrogen fuel cell converts chemical energy into electricity. Combustion is a different process. Ammonia, methanol and synthetic aviation fuels have their own production pathways, handling requirements and emissions. None should be treated as interchangeable or automatically impact-free.
Geothermal energy, hydrogen and water treatment have different roles
Geothermal resources can provide heat and, where conditions permit, electricity. Electrolysis uses electricity and suitable water to produce hydrogen; it does not desalinate seawater. Desalination and wastewater treatment need their own processes. Assess local resource temperature, flow, water chemistry and environmental constraints before choosing an energy chain.
Measure the service delivered
For transport, record energy use and lifecycle emissions per passenger-distance or freight-distance, including occupancy and payload. For water, record energy per volume of treated water and the quality achieved. Include capital costs, maintenance, infrastructure, water demand and waste streams such as desalination brine.
PROPOSED FIRST CASE / OPEN FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
An island or a coastal community.
Can one local plan improve transport, energy reliability and water supply together? Begin with a real location and its existing infrastructure.
| Need | Current system / impacts to measure | Options to assess / possible improvements |
|---|---|---|
| Connections and deliveries | Routes, timetables, passenger numbers, freight loads and fuel use | Better logistics, electrification and suitable hydrogen or derived-fuel pathways |
| Drinking water and wastewater | Daily and seasonal demand, existing treatment, quality targets and waste disposal | Efficiency improvements, treatment upgrades and desalination where needed |
| Energy supply | Demand profiles, grid reliability and measured local renewable resources | Direct renewable energy, heat recovery, batteries and hydrogen storage where justified |
Geothermal availability must be established for the location. An island or coastal setting alone does not demonstrate a usable geothermal resource.
FROM IDEA TO A REVIEWABLE PROPOSAL
Five steps, one clear record.
- Describe the problem. Who experiences it, where, and what would improvement mean?
- Establish the baseline. Record the current system, measurements and missing data.
- Compare alternatives. Use the same demand, service quality and system boundaries.
- Invite review. Separate measurements, estimates and assumptions; provide sources and dates.
- Define the next step. Identify a calculation, a site assessment or a feasibility study, with the skills required.
Each proposal should keep a visible record of questions, evidence and revisions. A working discussion becomes useful when others can understand how its conclusions were reached.
CONTRIBUTE TO THE FIRST DISCUSSION
Bring a problem, a skill or a useful dataset.
Describe the location, the need, the current situation, your idea and the contribution you can offer. Tell us which of the three tracks interests you.
The email button opens your email application. Contributions are reviewed before any public publication; submitting a proposal does not publish it on this page.
