This week the Green Guardian looks at the plans for Battersea Power Station which, according to developers, will turn the site into a new eco-community.

Real Estate Opportunities (Reo), the company tasked with bringing the plans to fruition, announced on Friday that the new £4billion development would include a spectacular 300-metre chimney and an Ecodome, which promises to carbon neutralise the project.

The development will also feature the largest solar driven natural ventilation system ever conceived, eliminating the need for air conditioning in the commercial and retail accommodation within the dome.

Rob Tincknell, of Reo, said: "Climate change is the 21st century’s most urgent challenge and has not been adequately addressed by the development sector.

"This will be Britain’s first truly verifiable carbon neutral major development. If people begin to see the credibility of the scheme and see the benefits of it, I think people will support it. It is not a token gesture, it will make a serious dent in the level of emissions. The annual carbon reduction is 80,000 tonnes a year, the same as a town the size of Newbury."

The chimney will draw air up through office buildings, which are covered by the Ecodome. The dome’s roof will be made of material similar to that used in the Eden Project in Cornwall.

On a sunny day up to 3,000 cubic metres of air per second will be drawn through the system.

The sun will heat the air under the dome, causing it to rise up the tower. That will in turn suck in air from outside the glass canopy, which will stop at the third storey, creating a constant breeze to cool the offices.

Employees at the new development will be encouraged to travel to work by alternative non-car modes. Proposals include a Battersea Power Station Tube stop, an increase in the number of existing buses and a new low carbon bus and river bus service.

A car charging system to reward electric and hybrid vehicles, and the use of car clubs and car sharing, will also be promoted.