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Our natural resources are finite and could seriously impact the global economy. Indeed, resource efficiency affects every business and its associated supply chains, in some way, shape or form. The rapid depletion of resources and scarcity of materials, coupled with an ever-present agenda to minimise industrial impacts upon the environment and to develop a sustainable low carbon economy, are challenges at the very core of the manufacturing industry.

Add to this the demands of a growing population - forecasts warn of one billion new consumers in cities by 2025 and an increase in consumption by $10 trillion – and the issue is set to become ever more challenging. The design and development of our built environment is therefore central to the issue and, with this in mind, we at CPI have launched our vision of how we envisage our cities of the future.

Our concept demonstrates the ways in which technology and innovation can combine to achieve sustainable living and reduce the reliance upon natural resources, while simultaneously driving down costs. Moreover, this vision is not unrealistic, as many of the technologies currently exist, but must be integrated to achieve the vision.

HARNESSING RESOURCES
At the heart of our new city and, more importantly, at the heart of sustainability as a concept itself, is the ability to harness our natural resources and make them work smarter and harder. Therefore, our city would utilise waste streams from industry and agriculture to generate energy through anaerobic digestion, and excess waste would then be recycled and reused to create new and useful products. The city of the future's buildings would integrate photovoltaic cells and sensors into the actual building materials to improve efficiency.

While this may appear to be a dramatic way of thinking, we believe it is very much needed, if the resource efficiency issue we have been facing for decades is to be addressed. Furthermore, we believe our vision is achievable and the focus should be placed upon integrating and deploying technology that has been invented, which we at CPI can scale up. Then the technology can be combined and integrated with other existing technologies to be applied in innovative ways to tackle resource efficiency and develop truly sustainable ways of living, which encompass all aspects of city life.

HOW ACHIEVABLE IS THE VISION?
Our team of scientists and engineers have successfully delivered projects such as those featured in the city. We have already developed and tested the viability of the technology required to act as the foundations for the city of the future. Indeed, many elements of the city already exist; yet simply need to be proven in collaborative partnerships between companies, academic institutions and also the government's Catapult network. Moreover, a city built around concepts such as those in our vision would make full use of the UK manufacturing landscape and, as such, provide a valuable boost for the economy.

PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES
However, where are we currently? At CPI, we have four proven technologies and assets that, if combined, could form the basis of a viable sustainable city.

The production and cultivation of algae sits at the core of our city, and at CPI, and has been identified as one of the most promising renewable fuel feedstocks, since very high oil yields and greenhouse gas savings, coupled to no negative effects on farming, have been reported. We currently have projects underway that harness its natural ability to capture CO2 and also to generate biofuels on an industrial scale. One project that works on both levels is the InteSusAl project, which is optimising the entire microalgae production chain to achieve algae cultivation targets of 90-120 dry tonnes per hectare per annum.

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