The Project
FAMOS aims to develop a sustainable, reliable and socially acceptable conceptual design of modular floating islands for the creation of multifunctional sea areas in deep water and fully exposed conditions. During the Project, floating islands will be designed, protected by large breakwaters, and linked together to form an autonomous archipelago in terms of energy and food needs. Electricity generation will be climate-neutral and sustainable because it will be obtained exclusively from renewable sources, such as wind and photovoltaic power plants hosted on dedicated islands that are integrated with each other. The project will involve future users in the design, who through a visualization with virtual reality will have the opportunity to walk on the islands envisioned by the researchers to provide impressions and suggestions.
Why floating islands?
Adopting floating structures appears more sustainable than using bottom founded structures both in terms of environmental and economic aspects. Although some aquaculture or solar energy devices have been developed based on floating sub-structures, most of them are limited to near-shore areas in relatively shallow waters and mild wave conditions. To fully exploit exposed offshore marine areas, FAMOS must go beyond the state of the art by addressing significant challenges posed by possible occurrences of enormous waves.
Why FAMOS?
The world population is growing at a dizzying rate. Present estimates show that the process is likely to achieve a peak of 11 billion within the next 100 years. Such massive growth implies an increasing need for space for cities, infrastructure and industries as well as greater water, energy and food resources. The ocean plays a crucial role in this challenge. But is humanity ready to live on the ocean surface if there is no space for everyone on land? And how will it be possible to build sustainable, reliable and socially acceptable spaces on the open sea? These are some of the crucial questions to which FAMOS will seek answers.
Contact: info@famos-project.eu
FAMOS is coordinated by the University of Florence
