Professor Carl Ross from the Department of Mechanical and Design Engineering has reached the final five of the ‘Britain’s Bright Ideas’ competition which launched a national search for energy efficient ideas, led by energy company npower.

His idea to design a floating island city was the result of his passion for finding a solution to the problems of an overcrowded planet made worse by the threats posed by climate change. He believes that without drastic measures, by the year 2050 humankind is likely to suffer a disaster of biblical proportions. Professor Ross has written a paper in which he suggests that floating islands could provide extra space and produce enough environmentally friendly energy from waves, wind and the sun to support their needs.

He said: “There are many islands in the Pacific and Indian oceans which are only a few feet above sea level. If global warming continues and the sea level rises by about 6.7 metres as predicted, millions of people will be displaced, together with their means of food supply.

“Some 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water so it makes sense for humankind to colonise the oceans for their benefit. If scientists and engineers are given the tools we can find a solution.”

The professor’s plan is for a city above sea level, supported on several concrete tubular pillars with a platform ‘resting’ on the top made of glass fibre which is 50 times stronger than concrete under compression. Each island is designed to accommodate a population of around 150,000 and would incorporate all the facilities of a regular city such as schools, a hospital, leisure facilities, services, industrial complexes and shops.

Professor Ross said: “I’m thrilled to have reached this far in the Bright Ideas contest. I’ve always wanted to transform one of my ideas into a full-blown invention so it’s great to have the support of some real experts. Maybe in ten years everyone will be living on a floating island city.”

Professor Ross joins a shortlist of ideas from garden shed inventors up and down the country and his competition includes a bicycle powered USB charger and a domestic water wheel.

The winner of the ‘Bright Ideas’ competition will be announced later this month and the idea will be brought to life in a Wallace & Gromit-style sketch which will go on display at the Science Museum in London.

The judges loved the idea’s originality. Npower spokesperson Kevin Peake said: “The idea has all of the essential elements of a Bright Idea – it’s bold, effective and captures Wallace & Gromit’s have-a-go approach to innovation!”

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Claus Volkening, 23, of the University of Portsmouth, has designed and laboratory tested the first working small-scale model of a ‘solar updraft tower.’ It uses water storage tanks to store the sun’s energy, making clean, cheap electricity available to all, even at night.

Claus Volkening with his scale model solar updraft tower

He said: “The problem with existing solar power generators is that the times of peak generation of energy – during the day – do not match with times of peak need at night. With my model even when night falls and temperatures drop, electricity is still available and reliable.”

Claus’s scale model is based on a 1km high tower surrounded by glass or plastic above water tanks across a 16km square area. It would generate 100MegaWatts, enough to keep 80,000 British households supplied.

He hopes his design could be built in deserts all over the globe to generate clean, green electricity.

Claus is a German scholar studying for his BEng (Hons) at Portsmouth’s Department of Mechanical and Design Engineering. He said: “Energy is fascinating; it keeps everything moving. I’d love to work in industry and get the opportunity to help solve the problem of the world’s energy consumption.”

“The demand for power is rising, fossil fuels will run out and more than a billion people still haven’t got a regular power supply. Global warming isn’t the only problem which could be solved by this technology.”

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