Energy

Oasis uses a solar-powered system to provide its inhabitants with clean energy. The city’s site of energy generation is at its heart, outside the ground floor of the council house. It is a 200-yard wide circular disc of glass which sits above an empty chamber, at the bottom of which runs a massive network of pipes. The disc acts like a magnifying glass, taking energy from the sun and converting it into heat.

Oasis is built over a massive underground lake (aquifer), which serves many purposes aside from being a source of clean drinking water. Water is pumped from the lake through the pipes under the glass disk, which causes the water to boil due to the heat and turn into steam, which is then moved through a network of pipes to the rest of the city, providing a source of power. Waste water (anything from Oasis’ drains) is not returned to the lake (to avoid contamination), but instead enters the steam cycle via a separate route containing filters, allowing it to be reused and minimising water waste. Any condensed steam is also returned to the cycle.

The city was built with the back of the council house (the highest point in the city) facing South, so that the glass disc remains in sunlight for the majority of the day. With nightfall, the city’s steam production naturally lessens and then stops. Each morning, the pumps are started manually as soon as the amount of sunlight the system is receiving is enough to keep it powered once it’s started up.