Biosphère (Civ6)

Biosphère
World wonder of the Atomic Era
Introduced in Byzantium & Gaul Pack
Unlocked by	Synthetic Materials
Production cost	1740
Effects
When completed receive 100 Science for every Marsh, Rainforest, and Woods in this city. +1 Appeal to tiles adjacent to Rainforest and Marsh in your empire. +200% Power for all Offshore Wind Farms, Solar Farms, Wind Farms, Geothermal Plants, and Hydroelectric Dams. This building and these improvements provide Tourism equal to their Power. +1 Appeal to tiles adjacent to Rainforest and Marsh in your empire.

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 "Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads."
– Henry David Thoreau

The Biosphère is a Atomic Era Wonder in Civilization VI. It must be built along a River adjacent to a Neighborhood.

Vanilla and Rise and Fall

• Effects:
  • When completed receive 100 Science for every Marsh, Rainforest, and Woods in this city.
  • +1 Appeal to tiles adjacent to Rainforest and Marsh in your empire.

Gathering Storm

• Effects:
  • +200% Power for all Offshore Wind Farms, Solar Farms, Wind Farms, Geothermal Plants, and Hydroelectric Dams. This building and these improvements provide Tourism equal to their Power.
  • +1 Appeal to tiles adjacent to Rainforest and Marsh in your empire.

Strategy

The only mainstay bonus of this Wonder among different game versions is the Appeal bonus to Rainforest and Marsh tiles. This effect is marginal, as it simply neutralizes the Appeal penalty that Marsh and Rainforest tiles have. If you are playing to maximize Appeal, you are still better off removing jungle and marsh and planting second-growth forests after Conservation, as second-growth forests provide an inherent +1 Appeal to surrounding tiles. The only civilization that will truly benefit from this aspect is Brazil, as their Rainforests will now supply +2 Appeal to adjacent tiles.

Before Gathering Storm, upon completion, the Biosphère grants 100 Science for every Woods, Rainforest and Marsh tile in the city, which is, frankly, a pathetic bonus. This Wonder is unlocked at Synthetic Materials, one of the last technologies of the Atomic Era, the penultimate era in the game. The Biosphère requires you at least 19 tiles covered with Rainforest, Marsh, or Woods in its parent city (23 tiles if playing in Rise and Fall) if you want to be granted one free Information Era technology unlocked, which is unrealistic. The fact that the requirement for this Wonder is a Neighborhood and 1740 Production means most likely you have to build it in one of your core cities, which are filled with Districts and Wonders. The chance for one of these cities to have a lot of free space that can be covered with Woods after unlocking Conservation is low, not to mention clearing features is such a common practice in order for players to stay competitive on high difficulty levels or in multiplayer games. It is almost never worth spending such a huge amount of Production for a paltry amount of Science this late into the game.

In Gathering Storm, the Biosphère becomes an incredible Wonder for players who are pursuing a Cultural Victory. It triples the amount of Power provided by all renewable sources, which means each Wind Farm, Offshore Wind Farm, and Solar Farm provides 6 Power, each Geothermal Plant provides 12 Power, and each Hydroelectric Dam provides a whopping 18 Power. Furthermore, all of these improvements and buildings generate Tourism based on their Power supply, so just for comparison, a Hydroelectric Dam provides more Tourism than a National Park with all 4 Breathtaking tiles, and with the exception of the Geothermal Plant, all other types of Power improvements have really easy placement rules. The huge amount of Power also results in your empire no longer having to rely on "dirty" sources of Power, making this Wonder also suitable for players pursuing a Science Victory, specifically for assistance in maintaining Terrestrial Laser Stations, or a Diplomatic Victory, since they do not have to choose between high yields and a bit of extra Diplomatic Favor.

Strangely, this wonder also provides extra Power for all Harbor buildings if you are the Suzerain of Cardiff. All Harbor buildings will then provide 6 Power instead of 2, for a total of 18 Power for every fully developed Harbor.

Civilopedia entry

When the Apollo 11 astronauts took a photograph of the Earth from the Moon in 1969, the image of a small blue dot brought home the idea that the world was small, and shared. The water, atmosphere, and ecology of the Earth was a heritage – and responsibility – that every human shared. Two years before, at the Expo 1967 world’s fair in the Canadian city of Montréal, the US pavilion was constructed in a gigantic sphere, which similarly tried to capture and symbolize this unique and fragile state. The Biosphère, built by architect Buckminster Fuller, dominates the skyline of that city. It is a museum dedicated to the Earth and all of its fragility, its beauty, and the threats to its air, water, biodiversity and climate. The term “biosphere” itself, the inspiration for the structure, was coined by geologist Eduard Suess to refer to this notion of life and its interconnectivity. Today, scientists have built upon his ideas to refer to the “Anthropocene,” this current moment in geologic time where our impact upon this planet is inescapable, when human activity profoundly alters the way that the biosphere works. So maybe you should consider drinking that coffee that’s sitting right there next to your monitor out of a reusable cup.

Trivia

• There are three unused quotes for this wonder in the game files:
  •  "We can never have enough of nature."
    – Henry David Thoreau
  •  "Summer grass is all that remains of warriors' dreams."
    – Matsuo Bashō
  •  "Thou saw the fields lay bare and waste, an' weary Winter comin fast, an' cozie here, beneath the blast, thou thought to dwell."
    – Robert Burns

Gallery

The Biosphère completed

The Biosphère, as seen in-game