Bungalows in Winter wallpaper, Green lighting and electronics means more usage for some, Chrysler Emerges From its Dark Days

Bungalows in Winter wallpaper

LEDs promise brighter future, not necessarily greener

Solid-state lighting pioneers long have held that replacing the inefficient Edison light bulb with more efficient solid-state light-emitting devices (LEDs) would lower electrical usage worldwide, not only “greenly” decreasing the need for new power plants but even permitting some to be decommissioned.

But, in a paper published Thursday in the Journal of Physics D, leading LED researchers from Sandia National Laboratories argue for a shift in that view.

“Presented with the availability of cheaper light, humans may use more of it, as has happened over recent centuries with remarkable consistency following other lighting innovations,” said Sandia lead researcher Jeff Tsao. “That is, rather than functioning as an instrument of decreased energy use, LEDs may be instead the next step in increasing human productivity and quality of life.”

One would think or even hope that as poorer countries catch up in terms of more stable economies and increase use of technology – including lighting via LEDS – that electricity usage would increase. Parts of both Africa and Asia that still live in poverty would also be ready for green energy technologies. Africa is uniquely suited to take advantage of inland solar power ( remember DESERTEC is in Africa) and wind power off shore. Solely based on anecdotal observation my friends and colleagues are working about the same hours but every year their energy use has gone down due to using newer more efficient lighting, television and monitors.Though because of poulation trends the west ( North America and Western Europe) electricity usage in bound to increse simply because there will be more people. The Current population of the U.S. is about 320 million and is expected to grow to 430 million by the year 2050. After which it is expected to decline over the next hundred years. Just forty years – 1970 – the U.S. population was 204 million.

Chrysler Emerges From its Dark Days

The Vice President’s remarks emphasized these and other aspects of the supply chain. To help make the point, he displayed this visual, showing the suppliers which provide parts directly to the Wrangler assembly plant. These top-tier suppliers alone represent 3,000 American jobs. Other suppliers, one link down the chain, create additional jobs across the country supplying parts to the top-tier folks.

….But even while some in government and from the pundit class urged the President and Vice President walk away from this industry, they wouldn’t turn their backs. Instead, they bet on the American worker, on the uniquely American spirit of renewal, and on the faith that the key stakeholders would do what was needed to once again make this industry a global contender.

And that bet is paying off.

In the year before we took office, the auto industry shed 431,300 jobs. But in the 13 months since GM and Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy, auto industry employment has increased by 76,300, a huge reversal — one we’d never have seen had we listened to those urging us to walk away.

Of those 76,300 new jobs, close to 40,000 come from the suppliers. That’s the fastest year over year growth that they’ve seen in a decade.

They’re good manufacturing jobs, right here in America, staffed by highly productive men and women doing two important things: they’re building great new vehicles, and they’re writing a new chapter in the history of the American auto industry.

Chrysler is rumored to be working on a natural gas-powered SUV and a hybrid RAM pick-up.

Stimulus ( Recovery Act) added millions of jobs in Q2

The massive U.S. stimulus package put millions of people to work and boosted national output by hundreds of billions of dollars in the second quarter, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday.

CBO’s latest estimate indicates that the stimulus effort, which remains a political hot potato ahead of the November congressional elections, may have prevented the sluggish U.S. economy from contracting between April and June.

CBO said President Barack Obama’s stimulus boosted real GDP in the quarter by between 1.7 percent and 4.5 percent, adding at least $200 billion in economic activity.

It looks as though it is going to be a long haul to full recovery, but at least we’re not losing ground.

Calm Day Lake Side wallpaper, Lunar inspired tech to self clean solar panels, Eat your polyphenolics

Calm Day Lake Side wallpaper

Mars technology creates self-dusting solar panels

Self-cleaning technology developed for lunar and Mars missions could be used to keep terrestrial solar panels dust free

Dust deposits can reduce the efficiency of electricity generating solar panels by as much as 80%.

The self cleaning technology can repel dust when sensors detect concentrations on the panel’s surface have reached a critical level.

In some of the dry desert areas that currently have large solar arms such as the Mojave solar panels can collect as much as 17kg per square km. Which can translate to a decrease in solar collection efficiency by as much as 80%. The self-cleaning technology detects when dust coverage reaches a critical level. Each panel – covered with an electrically sensitive material – is than charged. This sends a dust repellent wave of electricity across the panel. Researchers hope the technology will be available on a commercial production level within a year.

UCO Forensic Science Institute honored for energy-saving design

For the Forensic Science Institute building, the U.S. Green Building Council cited areas such as construction waste management, recycled content, use of regional and low-emitting building materials and water-use reduction in the certification.

About 94 percent of on-site construction waste was diverted from a landfill, more than 13 percent of the building materials were manufactured using recycled materials and the construction reduced water use 36 percent.

More than 22 percent of the building materials used were extracted, harvested, recovered or manufactured within 500 miles of the project.

Besides knowing a little more about green building technology we now know where the real CSI investigators come from.

Eating berries may activate the brain’s natural housekeeper for healthy aging

Scientists today reported the first evidence that eating blueberries, strawberries, and acai berries may help the aging brain stay healthy in a crucial but previously unrecognized way. Their study, presented at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), concluded that berries, and possibly walnuts, activate the brain’s natural “housekeeper” mechanism, which cleans up and recycles toxic proteins linked to age-related memory loss and other mental decline.

The brain naturally has some cleaner/helper cells called microglia. In a process known as autophagy they remove and recycle cell debris which might be harmful if left around. The microglia tend to become less effective as the body ages. Sometimes being under active and sometimes over active. Polyphenolics in berries other fruits and vegetables have a rejuvenating effect, restoring much of the microglia’s normal functioning.

Winding River Colorful Sunrise wallpaper, Dutch designer resurrects microcar, Wind ain’t always green

Winding River Colorful Sunrise wallpaper

New Isetta to Solve Our Transportation Woes

A Dutch designer says resurrecting the microcar is the key to reducing congestion and maximizing efficiency.

Ralph Panhuysen, whose Space Efficient Vehicle (SEV) seats three in a sideways V formation and parks two abreast like shoes in a shoebox, dreams of a world in which small, lightweight cars sip fuel and travel two-abreast in a single lane.

While they are not for everyone I’m a fan of the mini-car  – with some slight modifications, mostly in the way of creature comforts like AC the Honda concept car 3R-C would make a great commuter or second car for a two car family. An updated Isetta (like the SEV) would be capable of cruising at 90 mph while still averaging 80 mpg. Wired also compares the SEV to the Messerschmitt and Heinkel. The Isetta, Messerschmitt and Heinkel were all originated in the 1950s. Photos at each link.

I think it was back in 2007 we had the great ivory billed woodpecker might not be extinct craze. For what good it did, while I was doubtful, I did cross my fingers hoped for the best. Thus far no ivory billed. The whole chase for the bird does make an interesting science meets detective story – Ghost Bird – The Ivory-billed Woodpecker: Hopes, Dreams, and Reality

Some wind advocates are now foes – Disruption issues have turned off onetime fans

Bob Anders used to count himself among the fans of wind power — until developers pitched the idea of a 10-turbine wind farm near his Webster home with blades reaching close to 500 feet in the air.

That’s when Anders began having second thoughts about the disruption, from the constant whooshing of the turbines to the repetitive glint of sunshine off the blades at certain times of the day, not to mention a feared drop in property values.

…. Eleanor Tillinghast of the environmental advocacy group Green Berkshires said she, too, used to be a fan of wind power, but now believes the amount of energy produced isn’t worth the trade-off in noise, disruption, and commercial development of green areas.

“We are not going to be changing our energy profile in New England with 1,000 wind turbines, but we are going to be destroying our environment,’’ she said.

“If we are talking about sacrificing all our mountaintops for 5-6 percent of our energy needs, that’s not acceptable.’’

While wind-power has a place in our national movement toward renewable energy it is not for every situation. It would behoove wind power advocates to really listen to these people and take their concerns into account. Some of those concerns can be addressed with better locations. While other would require getting back to the drawing board in terms of better engineering. On the other hand one thing wind power opponents should understand is there are going to be trade-offs. Would they rather have a beautiful mountain’s top blown off for a coal mine or have a couple dozen wind turbines.

Global Tropical Forests Threatened by 2100

By 2100 only 18% to 45% of the plants and animals making up ecosystems in global, humid tropical forests may remain as we know them today, according to a new study led by Greg Asner at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology. The research combined new deforestation and selective logging data with climate-change projections. It is the first study to consider these combined effects for all humid tropical forest ecosystems and can help conservationists pinpoint where their efforts will be most effective. The study is published in the August 5, 2010, issue of Conservation Letters.

Grey Hooded Kingfisher wallpaper, California sea otter populations sink as research funding dries up, Promethean Power Systems has developed a solar-powered refrigeration system

Grey Hooded Kingfisher wallpaper

Grey Hooded Kingfishers are residents of East Africa and has been reported in Arabia. One of the kingfishers that defies its description, dining on insects and small vertebrates such as lizards, rather than fish.

California sea otter populations sink as research funding dries up

Populations of southern, or California, sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) have declined for the second year in a row, including a dramatic drop in births, according to new numbers released by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). At the same time, the money necessary to study and help save the sea otters could soon evaporate amidst California’s budget crisis.

The number of pups has dropped precipitously and for reasons unknown it’s range has declined by 50 km (31miles). Some suspected reasons for their decline include shark attacks, toxins and malnutrition. Despite his claims to be an environmental moderate Governor Schwarzenegger has cut revenue sources that benefit large corporations at the expense of the environment. Various financial boondoggles such as this were used by the governor to supposedly create jobs – cut taxes create jobs – makes for yet another mindless bumper sticker but obviously has not paid off since California’s unemployment rate is currently at 12.5%.  It is doubtful pushing the sea otter to the brink of extinction is much consolation to the unemployed.

Waste free lunches,

As Americans we have come to depend on the many convenience products that are available to us, and nowhere is this more evident than in the school lunch room. Most parents pack lunch items in single-use plastic bags, aluminum foil, or wax paper, or they purchase single-serving items that come in their own disposable package. Admittedly, these products are extremely convenient, but what is the environmental cost to a country that relies so heavily on them? Landfills are full and overflowing. Incinerators pump contaminants into the air. Communities are battling over who will accept the nation’s trash. We all enjoy these conveniences, but few of us are willing to allow new landfills and incinerators to be built in our own backyards.
Much of the trash we generate comes from the packaging on the food we buy, and lunch foods are no exception. In fact, it has been estimated that on average a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year. That equates to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-size elementary school.

There is a FREE Waste-free Lunch Pamphlet at the link.

Promethean Power Systems has developed a solar-powered refrigeration system

The system uses ice to cool the products and solar power to enable the cooling. Once ice is loaded, the system operates using only solar power therefore can be installed in any remote location such as open fields, off-grid villages or building structures without electrical grid power.

Lowest capital and operating cost: we’ve designed this product to be simple, low-cost and easy to operate. The system uses very few moving parts and incorporates our own proprietary technologies to reduce equipment and operating cost.

This is a great idea. Cold food storage helps prevent waste of sometimes scarce food supplies. Not in the way of being overly critical, but just as a practical matter that still leaves the matter of making or getting the ice. This gentleman has been experimenting with making ice in hot climates – Figuring the Future: How to Make Ice Out of Thin Air: Cool Heat Transfer – using a Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube. You can make plenty of ice with a good supply of ammonia, but that introduces another money/supply issue in addition to the toxicity of ammonia gas.

Highway Monument Valley wallpaper, Scientists confirm huge Gulf BP oil plume, What a gallon of gas really costs

Highway Monument Valley wallpaper

Gas Is Really Costing Us About $15 a Gallon – Calculating the true cost of living in a country built on oil.

Anita Dancs, an economist with the Center for Popular Economics, notes  that “energy security, according to national security documents, is a vital national interest and has been incorporated into military objectives and strategies for more than half a century.” After breaking down the overall military budget and evaluating specific missions, she concludes that “we will pay $90 billion this year to secure oil. If spending on the Iraq War is included, the total rises to $166 billion.” That would already add 56 cents to every gallon of gas we buy.

The late Milton Copulos was a veteran of the Heritage Foundation, an advisor to both President Ronald Reagan’s White House and the CIA, as well as the head of the right-wing National Defense Council Foundation. He was particularly concerned with dependence on foreign oil, and he highlighted how oil imports were both an economic boon to unsavory governments abroad and a missed opportunity for domestic investment. In 2006, Copulos argued that, if you add to oil-related defense spending such factors as the economic impact of periodic oil supply disruptions and the opportunity costs of money spent on oil imports that might have been used elsewhere in the economy, the “hidden” costs of the U.S. dependence on petroleum would total up to $825 billion per year.

“To put the figure in further perspective,” he wrote, “it is equivalent to adding $8.35 to the price of a gallon of gasoline refined from Persian Gulf oil.” At today’s rates, that would hike the price at the pump to approximately $11 per gallon, or more than $250 to fill the tank of a typical SUV.

Regardless of whether an individual citizen drives, or what kind of car they use if they do drive, we all pay the difference between the pump price and the cost of national security related issues involved with taxes.

WHOI (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Scientists) Map and Confirm Origin of Large, Underwater Hydrocarbon Plume in Gulf

Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have detected a plume of hydrocarbons that is at least 22 miles long and more than 3,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, a residue of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The 1.2-mile-wide, 650-foot-high plume of trapped hydrocarbons provides at least a partial answer to recent questions asking where all the oil has gone as surface slicks shrink and disappear. “These results indicate that efforts to book keep where the oil went must now include this plume” in the Gulf, said Christopher Reddy, a WHOI marine geochemist and oil spill expert and one of the authors of the study, which appears in the Aug. 19 issue of the journal Science.

Image courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

So much for the meme that the oil has evaporated or magically disappeared. Bigger picture available at WHOI link.

Another go green make money story – Converting Gas-Guzzlers into Hybrids

XL Hybrids plans to convert taxis, delivery trucks and other fleet vehicles into hybrids, cutting the vehicles’ fuel consumption by 15 to 30 percent. Alt-E, a startup founded by former Tesla Motors engineers, is similarly targeting fleet vehicles, but it plans to make plug-in hybrids that can drive for roughly 40 miles on the energy stored in a battery that’s recharged by plugging in. Once that stored charge is used up, Alt-E’s vehicle will act like a conventional hybrid with fuel economy of 32 miles per hour–more than double that of the prototype vehicle it is working with–a Ford F150 pickup.

A company called Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies (HEVT) is also doing hybrid conversions. While there are millions of potential conservation out there I wonder how this business model will be affected by the launch of several hybrids by the likes of GM, Ford and Nissan in the next year. Most of those offerings will be passenger cars, but GM did recently buy a hybrid delivery van company and Ford has plans to sell SUV hybrids.

Jakarta introduces women-only trains to avoid groping

Women-only train carriages were launched this week in Jakarta in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, in an attempt to avert groping and sexual harassment on packed commuter trains.

Women can choose to board the female-only, orange and pink-seated carriages at the front and rear of trains in Jakarta, the latest in a growing number of cities to offer women-only services.

The state-owned railway operator, PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), said it had not received many complaints about sexual harassment but the company had noticed that many women avoided densely-packed trains.

That’s just sad on a cultural level and it doesn’t do the reputation of mass transit much good either.