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Electricity&SOlAR POWER TECHNOLOGY



FEB, 7-3-14
The human population continues to rapidly grow. And as numerous people increase, so does the decision for resources, one of which is electricity. While the decision for electricity increases, the supply decreases when the available resources for electric power generation are being taken. Studies show that if no new causes of electricity are found, everything will experience scarcity from a few decades. This is why today, concerned countries headed by way of the United Nations are calling to your research, development, and using of sustainable energy. Sustainable energy advocates the effective use of renewable energy so that all generation will leave a sufficient amount of resources to sustain the decision of the next an individual. Plant matter, solar ability, wind power, wave ability, geothermal power and tidal power are the easiest sources of renewable electrical power. Another characteristic of sustainability is that quite simple pollute the environment thereby earning it the alias for green energy. The latest and considered most revolutionary style of green energy is any Biosphere Technology, which turns common wastes into earth-friendly electricity. A Biosphere Machine stops working wastes into their common molecular components and heats him or her up until they can handle generating electrical power. In situations if you experience not enough waste, Biosphere Flakes are often used to power the Biosphere Systems. The use of Biosphere Systems uses gasification technology from a unique way that will effectively cut power costs as many as 70-90%, not to mention that this also eliminates the requirement almost all waste disposal costs as many garbage will be useful to fuel the Biosphere Systems.The UN has already recognized 100s of biosphere facilities the entire world and hope the particular one day, biosphere technology is the chief source of society electricity. Biosphere technology is humanities major light of hope in saving Mother earth, and ourselves in practise. Pollution has already helped bring countless plant and four-legged friend species to extinction; shall we not wait for our species to generally be the next victim of your own actions.
Perhaps you have at any time looked over the soaring expenses of an electrical source and wondered if there was anything you may do about it? Magnets four Energy puts the future of electricity generation straight in the fingers. This comprehensive kit will train you easy methods to assemble your own magnet powered generator that could be highly effective enough to exercise your complete property, nonetheless doesn't price level a dime to work. You'll be able to totally free exclusively by yourself from the highly valuable strength companies and use your hard earned money within the points you want and need to get as a substitute.
1. In reality Behind Magnet Technologies.
Magnets four Electricity will reveal that magnet technological originality is authentic, and it really is all-around for several quite a few years. The creator of the energy data kit was when employed when using the Pentagon and he has got noticed authorities organizations and also navy place magnetic sturdiness generating know-how to employ several moments. His information explains why the government desires to keep the strong technological innovation right out the arms of customers, eventhough it could employ a substantial affect over the depletion with the International normal means.
2. You could Create Your Own Electrical power.
You may study from the Magnets 4 Electricity guide precisely ways to assemble your personal magnets powered generator. The guidebook incorporates details that provide how to adjust your generator to develop more electrical power after you need it and a smaller amount once you never. It also explains how you might make certain which the electrical power corporation reimburses you with the extra power that you generate. This information really does place strength production right into your palms of you.
3. Programs Are An easy task to Observe.
Even in the case you've never held a good hammer, you might can be used to assemble your generator employing the easy instructions in Magnets five Energy. It consists of details of provides and solutions for locations to invest in them. It has diagrams together with drawings that indicate everyone what your device should glimpse like from all stages of earning. The manual's straightforward to sit and learn, stage by step particulars will offer you the self confidence to generate your generator quickly and stuff it to utilize immediately. Magnet power is a electricity with the future, and Magnets four Energy is how to may achieve it.

You can generate electricity at home if you'd like to and just using a good magnet (or more appropriately, several). It really is just as simple as that. You may be skeptical but it's normal because most of us have been brought up to believe that energy can only be purchased from fossil fuels and renewables. This is actually not true at most of. In this article, I may explain how to generate electricity from home using magnetic motor systems.
The Basic Science Associated with "Zero Point"
Magnetic energy generators work owing to an area of fringe physics also known as zero point. This was one place studied intently by Albert Einstein together with Nikola Tesla (the discoverer of alternating current, without which our world of electricity probably would not exist). Zero point says that energy can be had from another source - all over. That's right, there is energy all over that we cannot look at. A perfect example for this is an old "cat's whisker" broadcast. You may have to speak to your parents or grandparents about they as they have not been manufactured for decades. They allow someone to become the radio without battery pack or connecting it into the wall. They can do this as they have an antennae that sees the radio waves as a source of electricity. This technology is now being exercised to charge up cell phones.
We can now take advantage of zero point using magnets as i will now explain.
Magnetic Motor Technology
Pioneers after Tesla's point in time have since developed this ideas further and been able to generate electricity from home and for free implementing neodymium magnets. Here's the way in which this works.
A rotor (usually composed of aluminum to save weight) is configured in a way that is rotates within a wide range of strategically placed magnets. Including, one design has 6 magnets pairs in alternating north-south types. When running, the generator exists from a state of constant speed equilibrium. The loads as a consequence of frictional losses and sales from rotational to electrical energy are exactly counterbalanced by way of the forces provided by any magnets. The device will pursue to produce electricity (around 7 kilowatts is sort of typical) indefinitely apart with limited downtime periods as soon as the device must be serviced and also magnets replaced due that will degradation.
Quit paying the strength company ever increasing levels of your hard-earned cash. Get free how to make your own magnetic energy generator here: Magnetic Motor Generator.

Electric cars are numerous electric vehicle (EV). Generally it looks at road-going automobiles powered by just electricity. While the electric car's power source is not really explicitly an on-board electric, an electric car powered by sunlight may be a solar car, an electric car powered by just a gasoline generator is a style of hybrid car. cars with electric magnetic generators powered by other energy sources are in general Referred to by a different sort of name:Internatonal Standard (ISO 8713: 2002) electric car known in two types, together with; Zero Emission Vehicles (Zev) together with Low Emission Vehicles (LEV). Utility cars are categorized towards Zero Emission Vehicles happen to be Batterai Cars (Battery Operate) together with car fuel cell. While that could be categorized into LEV propulsion system may be a car that combines the common engine with an utility motor (car Hybride).
she Basic Principle Of Utility Cars Engines
If you spot a strong electrical car on the path, it is nearly impossible to know that the car is powered by a strong electrical motor because EVs (electric vehicles) look just as a gasoline powered automotive. The only other option to find an electric motor powered car stands out as the excellent level of silence an electric engine has!When you've got gasoline cars, their engine bay features many boxes and pipes which are similar to a complicated plumbing job but with electric passenger cars, In an EV, there does exist an ac charger which could charge the battery machine. Once you start any engine, the power shall be directly delivered from batteries into the car. Instead of a good gasoline meter, an EV will contain a volt meter that will reveal the charge. If the volt meter shows low charge warning, it means so that you can recharge your car without delay. The EV motor wouldn't have clutch as the continuous motor has limited control about its power output. In place of an accelerator, it is a potentiometer that will let you increase or decrease any speed. To make the atmosphere conditioner work, there shall be an additional battery base and for heater, a water heater will be fixed during the engine bay. The power windows together with other accessories also use any electric charge and replacements are fashioned. The potentiometer used within a electric car is a lot like a fan regulator and works in line with the resistance principle. However, increasing or decreasing the speed can't allow you to prepare achieve a higher or lower mileage when the power output and even energy consumption will as the same. This is the way in which EVs work, which may be a very straightforward principle. There is no mistrust that electric cars will allow you to to save a bundle that you used to allocated to fuel.
Electric cars are numerous electric vehicle (EV). Generally it looks at road-going automobiles powered by just electricity. While the electric car's power source is not really explicitly an on-board electric, an electric car powered by sunlight may be a solar car, an electric car powered by just a gasoline generator is a style of hybrid car.
cars with electric magnetic generators powered by other energy sources are in general Referred to by a different sort of name:Internatonal Standard (ISO 8713: 2002) electric car known in two types, together with; Zero Emission Vehicles (Zev) together with Low Emission Vehicles (LEV). Utility cars are categorized towards Zero Emission Vehicles happen to be Batterai Cars (Battery Operate) together with car fuel cell. While that could be categorized into LEV propulsion system may be a car that combines the common engine with an utility motor (car Hybride).
Some form of Principle Of Electric Passenger cars Engines
If you spot a strong electrical car on the path, it is nearly impossible to know that the car is powered by a strong electrical motor because EVs (electric vehicles) look just as a gasoline powered automotive. The only other option to find an electric motor powered car stands out as the excellent level of silence an electric engine has!
When you've got gasoline cars, their engine bay features many boxes and pipes which are similar to a complicated plumbing job but with electric passenger cars, In an EV, there does exist an ac charger which could charge the battery machine. Once you start any engine, the power shall be directly delivered from batteries into the car. Instead of a good gasoline meter, an EV will contain a volt meter that will reveal the charge. If the volt meter shows low charge warning, it means so that you can recharge your car without delay. The EV motor wouldn't have clutch as the continuous motor has limited control about its power output. In place of an accelerator, it is a potentiometer that will let you increase or decrease any speed. To make the atmosphere conditioner work, there shall be an additional battery base and for heater, a water heater will be fixed during the engine bay. The power windows together with other accessories also use any electric charge and replacements are fashioned. The potentiometer used within a electric car is a lot like a fan regulator and works in line with the resistance principle. However, increasing or decreasing the speed can't allow you to prepare achieve a higher or lower mileage when the power output and even energy consumption will as the same.
This is the way in which EVs work, which may be a very straightforward principle. There is no mistrust that electric cars will allow you to to save a bundle that you used to allocated to fuel.
Edison's Electric (Year 1889)
There is some disagreement about who built the main electric car worldwide, credit is given into the Scottish inventor Robert Anderson, who built a strong electrical car with energy unit energy causes of non-rechargeable, on the same exact year, the Dutch inventor Sibrandus Starting create a strong electrical vehicle, as is finished also by Thomas Davenport for Vermont. And it has been doing since at least half a century before the Benz Patent-Motorwagen.
GM EV1
The reccommended Motors EV1 was a strong electrical car produced and leased by way of the General Motors Corporation with 1996 to 1999. It had become the first mass-produced together with purpose-designed electric vehicle within the modern era from a leading automaker, and the first GM car which is designed to be an electric vehicle within the outset. The decision to mass-produce a strong electrical car came after GM received a favorable reception for its 1990 Effects electric concept car, upon which the design of any EV1 drew heavily. Inspired partly by way of the Impact's perceived potential meant for success,
Tesla Roadster
(Year 2008-Present)
The Tesla Roadster may be a battery electric vehicle (BEV) performance car produced by the utility car firm Tesla Magnetic generators in California. The Roadster stands out as the only highway-capable electric automotive in serial production (as opposed to prototype or evaluation fleet production) in Canada and america or Europe. Tesla had produced around 1, 200 Roadsters sold in as a minimum 28 countries as for July 2010. [2] Tesla began delivering right-hand-drive Roadsters in early 2010 to your British Isles, Australia, The japanese, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The Roadster stands out as the first production automobile to apply lithium-ion battery cells and also first production BEV (all-electric) of moving more than 200 stretches (320 km) per bill. [
Chevrolet Volt
(Year 2012)
The Chevrolet Volt is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle being produced by the Chevrolet  division of General Motors and will be launched in November 2010 as a 2011 model. Its propulsion system is based on GM's new Voltec (formerly known as E-Flex) electric automobile platform, which differs significantly from GM's earlier BAS Hybrid and Two-Mode Hybrid systems. The Volt is capable of traveling between 25 to 50 miles (40 to 80 km) solely powered by the electrical energy stored in its on-board battery pack.

Solar Power technology
Solar Energy Technologies: Do You Know The History of Solar Power Technologies?
Nowadays, solar energy technologieshave become big business for the industry. What has started as a forte market is now quickly altering into a worldwide movement. The manufacturers of solar products are hardly keeping up with the demand as homeowners. Businesses are starting to realize the major effect of electricity produced in-house, may have in the long run. There was so much of a demand that there was even talk of a silicon crunch, as makers in the U.S., Europe and Asia manufactured as many panels they possible could. The History of Solar Power Technologies Just like in other industries, solar power technologiesare changing and the panels today are nothing like they were last year. There is less use of silicon, with others being more efficient, thinner and even flexible in some cases. This has not always been that way. When the solar industry first began, it started with rigid panels which had to be set up after a building was constructed. Those were the first generation solar heating systems that were made of either monocrystalline or polycrystalline. Nowadays, we normally see the latest version of them on roofs. Then came the thin film cells which were made much thinner, used less materials and easier to make; although this was the case, they were still rigid.
Nowadays there are new types of solar energy technologies. There are a few companies making flexible thin film models on basis of Copper-Indium-Diselenid technology. Many manufacturers are using this technology to make products which can be easily integrated right into a certain construction product known as building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV).
If you are currently looking into the latest solar power technology, then you definitely need to read this quick article - it is going to change everything you know about harnessing the sun's power. What would you say if someone were to offer you a plan which creates useful electricity for you and your family from ordinary sunlight at an unbeatably low budget - wouldn't you be eager to learn more? Keep reading the following article.
Up until now, plugging your home to an independent solar power supply system was seen as an undertaking that was out of the reach of most people, still, some people hung onto the vision. the latest solar power technology are now popular keywords for web searches, which is evidence that interest in solar energy is expanding, and there are many who want to educate themselves on this cost-saving and earth-saving technology.
The latest word in this fast-growing field is that the time to easily 'solarize' your home is here and now and best of all, it's easy on the bank account. so you too can have an absolutely free and unlimited home power supply. Consumers have long had the option of this green energy, but the problem was that most of us simply couldn't afford it; thus we had no choice but to buy the electricity our families required, wasting hard-earned money on a basic need.
As you continue to further check about the latest solar power technology, You have to hear the exciting news that just recently a leading expert in the field of renewable energy has discovered a simple method for you to fabricate solar panels and start reaping the cost-effective and earth-friendly rewards of solar power without the need for any expensive or hard to find materials. I discovered that there are in fact thousands of users across america and around the globe that already use this method to generate their own supply of clean, green energy, and additionally, the electric company buys power from users who generate more than they need. Being that affordable and accessible, homemade energy production is surely going to revitalize the way we produce our electricity.
Solar Power Technology - A Renewable Energy Resources Alternate
Once you login to your morning news, you will probably get reports on  fuel oil crisis and global warming bad environmental effects . Who is to blame for all of these ? Well, I do believe it is not critical as to who is to put the fault on to. What exactly is critical is let us try to find a way on how we can resolve it. An alternative solution as you could say and my proposition is the application of Solar Power engineering science. Why Solar Power Technology by the way? Well, I can tell you why.Here's the bullet points I gathered for you:·   It is everywhere. When you can find sunlight, you'll be able to generate its energy.·   It's a alternative energy source which are coming from in the sun.·   It does not lead pollution to Planet we live in.·   It gives energy cost savings.·   You may get it for free. All you need only is usually a minor expenditure of money to harness its energy.·   You can also make more income from your extra power you developed.
There is certainly without a doubt the power originating from the sun gives us many benefits that you should be thankful and be happy about that. It's got turn into a part of our everyday lives. It truly is about time that any of us make best use of its power capability. By harnessing its power, we are encouraging the preservation of non-renewable natural resources at same time lessening the smoke imparted from all of these fossil gas.It is extremely evident that global warming is behind the massive floods and tornados we experienced lately.Why don't we help each other to use renewable power resources and motivate our neighbors to do exactly the same. With the assistance from all nations, I truly do not see any reason why we could not obtain a better and healthier universe to reside in. All we would like is to make our initial step ahead. Using solar power technology is gaining momentum in many countries of the World. With the new developments on the solar cell efficiency I am positive that more companies will be considering tapping the potential of solar energy.
Solar Power Technologies on Hold
Two solar power technologies exist, the passive and the active technology. The passive technology are the photocell panels or the photovoltaic film that receives sunlight and generates electricity more apt for a space station or a home. The active technology is a solar thermal that uses a dish to concentrate sunlight that produces steam, which in turn powers a turbine that generates electricity. Another active technology, which is not being promoted, hidden form public view, is using the Stirling Engine to move a power generator. The passive technology is ready to go, and there are a few homes that have already installed the system. This system is totally clean, backed by the USDOE Solar American Initiative, it requires sufficient space on the roof to position the panels or film, and uses an inverter to turn direct current into alternate current homes can use. The Utility companies have also developed the Net Metering system to buy electricity on their terms, from homes that have generate a surplus of electricity. The new federal tax law "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008" effective January 2009 provides a 30% tax credit of the cost of a solar system. Some States are also providing large incentives to install solar systems, although with the current economic crisis these paybacks can be curtailed or delayed. The rest of the payback has to come from real savings generated over time by the system from the Utility company. This passive solar system is expensive as of today, and payback is obtained in 8 years of savings. Photovoltaic film or photocell panels are low efficiency and voltage, and compare badly with the option of buying electricity from the utility company. Currently you require from 13 to 15 photocell panels to generate the 2.5 to 3.0 Kilowatt hours generating capacity.
Walmart has established a pilot plan to install photovoltaic panels in several of their stores. If the system produces a return, they will massively implement it in all their stores, since they have sufficient roof space currently not utilized.
The Solar-thermal system is not adequate for homes and mainly will be used for large Utility companies. However, the active system based on a Stirling engine to power a generator which could be applicable for homes, is not available for massive distribution. Although all of its components have been developed, no one has yet integrated the solar power generating kit, or a home appliance. This home system or appliance should be very low cost because it requires: a solar collector or dish which could cost around $200 USD, a stiriling engine with a cost of $350, the 3 KW per hour power generator with a cost of $350, and the battery bank which is the expensive ticket item and could run several thousand dollars, to store electricity if the system is a stand alone not tied to the power grid. If the home is currently supplied by a utility company, then the battery bank is not needed and the Net Metering system with the public utility company can be used. In addition to the sun collector dish the rest of the system can be packaged in two boxes. One which has the stiriling engine and power generator, and the other with the battery if you are a location not tied to the grid. It can also have a gas heater installation as a backup to when there is a lack of sunlight making this a very reliable alternative.

Apparently, there are companies in America, New Zealand, India, Sweden, and other countries trying to develop the stiriling engine . A few companies are receiving funding from investment funds to develop the stiriling engine for this home appliance. Infinia Corporation, a US company has a head start, because they are currently producing a big sterling engine to power up 10 homes at a time and installing many of them in a centralized solar farm in California. Other companies should not be discouraged because markets are so huge, there will be enough room for all suppliers. Just in United States alone there is a potential of 124 million homes that could use the solar power appliance, plus commercial and industrial sites.
Having the home powering appliance, can be the initial steps for returning to sustainable systems. Today, the sun is light and warmth, provided to us from God and Nature, free for all of us to use and enjoy. A home solar powered generator would provide clean energy, and allow equal footing to all nations rich and poor, to devote their funding into other worthwhile social services such as health and education. Rich nations which have electrical grids and power generation capacity would suddenly feel there would be no need to continue increasing Power generation capacities and hopefully they would discontinue all those plants that contaminate.
How To Utilize Solar Power Technologies ?
Portable solar power will variety within capability via little types that are utilized to ask for transportable gadgets as well as supply energy regarding modest equipment in order to bigger kinds that may often be used as being a burn power source for your residence. You can discover one of them portable solar power generators throughout a number of measurements. Solar power technology will be tied up in your household's energy program so when it detects a loss of revenue of power because of bad weather, that switches with plus items the particular energy you'll need until the local energy comes home online.Sun rooms make use of glass panels erected along the walls, from floor to ceiling, and usually facing the east to maximize heat absorption right at the moment the sun appears. The panels take in heat emitted by the sun, stores it and prevents it from expense. Technologies that can help us tap solar power for heating even during winter include the following applies heating and ventilation technologies. It combines the sunroom and thermal mass processes where air channels absorb heat between glass panels and a thermal mass. The wall stores heat from the sun, which eventually gets circulated throughout the wall via vents. The wall becomes the source of heat.
These types of systems supply a few sites which are fitted correct on the creator that you simply might stopper the products as well as appliances straight into for the energy you will need. You should learn how much energy a person's things to do need before buying one of them portable generator devices to ensure it may possibly handle your own power needs.It is then easy to use whatever system you'll need power regarding off the same lightweight photovoltaic power generator. As with glass panels and thermal walls, a Transpired Collector works with walls that absorb solar power and heat the air as the latter enters and gets circulated through the ventilation system.An example is what we call Solar Cooling. The process absorbs solar heat that fuels a steam engine which in turn runs cooling devices. Another example is called Solar Chimney. Inside the the chimney is a hollow thermal mass that heats the air and cuase heats to evaporate. The process results in better air ciculation and ventilation within the building.
It is refreshing to know that generated solar power does not only make us warm. It truly is developed to accept the location of the classic heavy duty diesel generators that will present comparable Portable solar power in your property without necessitating traditional gasoline.
The Performance of Photovoltaic Solar Power Technology
When we speak about photovoltaic technology, we often refer to the field of research and technology specializing in using devices and systems that transform the energy of the sun into renewable electricity. When exposed to high degrees of sunlight, solar PV panels could generate electricity to power residential and commercial areas. A solar panel system is made up of solar cells which are its most rudimentary part. It is made from semiconductors, commonly silicon-based. Monocrystaline silicon is considered the most efficient yet at the same time costliest solar PV module. Other forms consist of solar panels made from polycrystalline or mulitcrystalline technologies.
The Historical past of Photovoltaic  Solar Power Technology
An oft-mistaken assumption by many people is that the solar photovoltaic effect has only been recently identified. In 1883, Charles Fritts initially discovered this effect. Subsequently, Albert Einstein claimed a Nobel Prize in 1923 for his theories which defined the photoelectric effect. Modern solar panels were first used by NASA as a way to power remote space vehicles. It was ideally suited to use a solar panel to supply electricity to these structures being that they are located in remote areas in outer space.The last few years can see an improvement in solar PV technology. Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom now provide you with feed-in tariffs and government incentives which built a stable market for this industry.
What Makes Solar Power Technology Productive?
This growing popularity for alternative forms of energy sources paved the way for a more thorough research and testing on solar technology systems. Each solar panel created is getting to be more efficient and reliable. The fact that solar energy will not trigger unnecessary toxic emissions including those from fossil fuel burning, adds more to its appeal.
Today's solar power technology could change about 20 per cent of the energy of the sun. It is believed that forthcoming solar panels could have an efficiency of 40 per cent. In fact, the most recent solar panels are based on molecular and quantum platforms that are created by implanting carbon nanotubes and quantum dots in treated plastic.
By thinking about the use of solar PV panels that harness sunlight to supply you with your electrical needs would be a great first step. Visiting the solar panel information site gives you a more thorough look on off-grid solar power systems. You could get a free quotation when you elect to set up one of your own solar panels at home or in your work place.
Solar Power Technologies - List Of Ways To Harness Solar Energy
We have been used to flicking gadgets--like turning a dial or pushing a button--everytime we want to make ourselves warm. Indeed technology has been part of our lifestyle and the ways of generating heat have increasingly provided us greater comfort in our homes, schools or businesses. Unfortunately, at a time when environmental concerns have grown serious and our need renewable resources has become urgent, not all heating technologies operate with cost-effective and environment-friendly materials. It is in this light that solar power becomes an ideal resource for generating heat. Solar energy is easy to generate, cost-effective and renewable. All we need is a solar source--something that attracts rays of the sun into it and traps the heat generated by the process. That, basically, is how a sunroom works.
Sun rooms are constructed near homes or buildings. They make use of glass panels erected along the walls, from floor to ceiling, and usually facing the east to maximize heat absorption right at the moment the sun appears. The panels take in heat emitted by the sun, stores it and prevents it from being dissipated. Through vents and other devices, stored heat then gets distributed to where and when it is needed, such as living rooms or bedrooms during night time.
In more specific terms, the technologies that can help us tap solar power for heating even during winter include the following:
 1) A Thermal Mass absorbs and stores solar energy during the day and distributes the heat at night.
2) The Trombe Wall applies heating and ventilation technologies. It combines the sunroom and thermal mass processes where air channels absorb heat between glass panels and a thermal mass. The wall stores heat from the sun, which eventually gets circulated throughout the wall via vents. The wall becomes the source of heat.

3) As with glass panels and thermal walls, a Transpired Collector works with walls that absorb solar power and heat the air as the latter enters and gets circulated through the ventilation system.
Moreover, it is refreshing to know that generated solar power does not only make us warm. It ventilates our buildings too. An example is what we call Solar Cooling. The process absorbs solar heat that fuels a steam engine which in turn runs cooling devices. Another example is called Solar Chimney. Inside the the chimney is a hollow thermal mass that heats the air and cuase heats to evaporate. The process results in better air ciculation and ventilation within the building.
There are many ways by which we can either heat or cool our homes, buildings or businesses. Unlike other heating systems that works through artificial means, heat, the technologies we briefly discussed above harness nature--heat from the sun--as source of power. They are cost-effective, ensuring excellent value-for-money investments. They also pose no threat to the environment. They respond to the need for ways of saving the heat when the sun is up so that our house will remain warm at night. In fact they do not only work for heating, they also work for cooling.
Will New Solar Energy Technology Push Solar Energy Forward?
Photo-voltaic panels are the most popular form of solar power energy in use today. However, a research team of students at MIT has developed solar power technology that may soon make these cells obsolete. The temperature of the heat that it produces is so intense that it can burn through wood or cut through steel like butter.
In neighborhoods throughout the U.S., if you were to take inventory of houses that are powered by solar energy, you would most likely see photo-voltaic panels on the building roofs. For more than 40 years, this has been the basic way in which most people view solar energy. The photo-voltaic panels collect energy from the sun, convert it into electrical energy, and store it in battery cells somewhere within the home. But we may be coming to the end of the day when the photo-voltaic cell is the dominant form of solar energy. Especially if the researchers at MIT have anything to say about it. The apparatus that is causing so much commotion is a device called a parabolic collector. What is a solar collector? It is simply a means of concentrating the rays of the sun onto a particular area and collecting the energy generated. A parabolic solar collector is an array of mirrors that take the rays from the sun and focus them on a singular point.
This specific point, In the plan that the MIT researchers have been working on, is a pipe that holds a special liquid. The function of this liquid is to accumulate and hold the energy generated by the parabolic collector. The stored energy is later extracted in the form of electricity via a turbine generator. Parabolic collectors are not new. In fact, for a while, they were somewhat popular in certain areas of the country. What usually happens is that the water or liquid in the heated pipes turn to steam because of the applied heat. The steam, in turn, drives the turbines which create the electricity.The thing that is new with the MIT research experiment is the actual design of the parabolic collector. And, the key ingredient in this new design is a 12 foot dish or mirror with the astounding capability of focusing the energy from the sun at such an intense level that it becomes hundreds of times more powerful than normal everyday sunshine.
As a matter of fact, the beam is so hot that if you were to place a piece of paper in the path of the concentrated beam, it would instantly burst into flame. So intense, that water placed in its path is instantly converted into steam. In other words, energy from the sun can be harvested at a rate 30, 40, or more times the rate that it can currently be collected via photo-voltaic methodology.The beneficial aspect of this for homeowners is almost immediate. This is because the payback time for someone thinking of investing in solar energy will decrease by a factor of two, three, and maybe even four times. Normally, when a homeowner invests in solar energy technology, the payback time is somewhere between seven to ten years. With this new technology, however, the payback time can be as little as three, and maybe even two years.
Electricity& The power of sunshine

INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRICITY&SOLAR ELECTRICITY
Feb20-2-14
That that is certainly Electricity?
Electricity is actually a naturally occurring compel that exists everywhere. Humans have known this force to get numerous centuries. Ancient man imagined that electricity was a variety of magic because they could not know it. Greek philosophers realized that when an posting of amber appeared to be rubbed with pad, it may well attract fecal material straw. They recorded the chief references to utility effects, such mainly because static electricity plus lightning, over some of, 500 years past. It was never until 1600 that your chosen particular man given its name Dr. William Gilbert coined the reasoning “electrical, ” a Latin word which inturn describes the static ask for that acquires if certain materials will be rubbed alongside ruby. This is the origin of the idea of “electricity. " Electricity and magnetism are especially natural forces that happen to be very closely relevant together. You will learn a little bit about magnetism while doing this section, but there is actually a whole section on magnetism in order to learn more. So that they can extremely understand electric power, we need to search closely within the particular small components that compose a lot of matter.

ELECTRIC ASK FOR
After reading this section it will be easier to do the examples below:
• Express a differences between electrons plus protons.
• Predict there is when protons plus electrons interact working with other protons and also electrons.
Electrons
Electrons are the smallest and lightest of your particles within your atom. Electrons are around constant motion as they quite simply definitely circle within the nucleus to the fact that atom. Electrons are believed contain a detrimental charge, which means how they look surrounded by a variety of imperceptable force arena. This is called getting some electrostatic field.

Protons
Protons are a greater and heavier as compared with electrons. Protons include a positive electrical ask for. This positively costed electrostatic field is a same strength as being the electrostatic field with a electron, but its opposite during polarity. Notice the detrimental electron (pictured topside menu left) as well as positive proton (pictured around the right) have precisely the same number of compel field lines around each diagrams. To paraphrase, the proton is strictly as positive as being the electron is unquestionably negative.
Like rates repel, unlike charges attractTwo electrons is going to normally repel one because both include a negative electrical ask for. Two protons will on top of that tend to repel one as they both have got a positive charge. But, electrons and protons might be attracted together because of its unlike charges. On the grounds that electron is a great deal smaller and lighter versus the proton, when they are attracted together due to its unlike charges, the electron usually does the majority of moving. This is really because the protons present an overabundance mass and are generally harder to get going. Although electrons are certainly small, their negative electrical charges continue to keep quite strong. Try to remember, the negative charge connected with an electron matches the positive electrical charge of your much larger in proportion proton. This manner any atom visits electrically balanced. Another important fact according to the electrical charges with protons and electrons is that your chosen farther away they can be from oneself, a less force its electric fields currently have on oneself. In a similar fashion, the closer they are together, the more force they should experience from each other on the grounds that invisible force arena called an application field.
ELECTRICAL PRESENT-DAY
After reading this section it will be easier to do the examples below:
Electricity may often be a term used to describe the energy produced (usually to work) when electrons are caused that should directional (not randomly) pass from atom that should atom. In point, the day-to-day products that the majority of us all benefit out of, rely on every movement of electrons. The following movement of electrons amongst atoms is utility current. We looks at how digital camera current is manufactured and measured while in the following pages.
CONDUCTORS PLUS INSULATORS
After reading this section it will be easier to do the examples below:.
In the former pages, we have talked a part about “conductors” plus “insulators”. We will discuss the above subjects extra before moving forward to discuss circuits. ConductorsDo you try to remember the copper atom that the majority of us discussed? Do you try to remember how its valence seed covering had an electron that should easily be embraced between other atoms? Copper is reckoned being a conductor because them “conducts” any electron present-day or flow with electrons somewhat without difficulty. Most metals are believed to be to generally often be good conductors with electrical current. Copper is just will highlight popular materials that is definitely used meant to get conductors. Other materials that happen to be quite often made use of as conductors will be silver, jewelry, plus aluminum. Copper is still amongst the most widespread material used to get wires because it's rather a very good conductor with electrical current and being fairly inexpensive when compared to the gold and magic. Aluminum and a lot of metals do never conduct electricity quite more or less copper. InsulatorsInsulators are materials that are fitted with just another effects on the flow with electrons. They never make electrons flow conveniently in atom to a different one. Insulators are compounds whose atoms currently have tightly bound electrons. These electrons probably are not free to roam around to get shared by border atoms. Some well-known insulator elements are glass, vinyl, plastic, air, plus wood. Insulators are of help to protect us with the dangerous influences with electricity flowing by conductors. Sometimes the voltage inside an electrical circuit is rather high and damaging. If the voltage should be high enough, electric current is often made that is going to flow through sometimes materials that aren't widely known as good conductors. People will conduct electricity and find out have experienced this while you received the zap. Generally, electricity flowing through your components is not pleasant that will produce injuries. The function one's heart are usually disrupted using a strong electrical shock and even current can induce burns. Therefore, came across shield people from the conductors that carry electricity. The rubbery stratum on wires is insulating material this shields us around the conductor inside. Look at every lamp cord and you see the insulator. If you ever be conscious of your conductor, it may be time to a cord.
Recall our earlier talk about resistance. Conductors have a very good low battle so that you can electrical current while insulators get a high challenge to electrical present-day. These two factors become vitally important when we start contend with actual electrical circuits.
AMPERAGE
After reading this section it will be easier to do the examples below:
• Define amperes plus name the instrument which is used to options amperage.
• Construct an experiment to look for the amount of amps flowing inside of a good circuit.
It's fundamental to use the right way to measure and know any flow with electrical current. When current pass is controlled it can be used to do useful deliver the results. Electricity can often be very dangerous and you must know something about it so that they can partner with them safely. The flow of electrons should be measured in systems called amperes. The reasoning amps is often used in simple. An amp is a amount for utility current that is accessible when various electrons, owning one coulomb (ku`-lum) to get charge, move past specific point of food attire second. A coulomb is a bill carried by way of 6. 25 x 10^18 electrons. 6. 24 x 10^18 is definitely scientific notation created for 6, 250, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000. Which is a lot of electrons moving past specific point in a person second! Since we could not count this speedy and we could not even be responsive to the electrons, we require an instrument that should measure the pass of electrons. An ammeter is definitely this instrument and being used to point how many amps with current are flowing with a electrical circuit.
VOLTAGE
After reading this section it will be easier to do the examples below:
• Define EMF plus explain how it is actually measured.
• Explain why EMF is extremely important to the pass of electrical regular.
• List several a example of causes of electromotive compel.
We also need to know something about the force which induces the electrons to safely move your stuff in an electrical outlet. This force is definitely electromotive force, and also EMF. Sometimes it is convenient to think about EMF as utility pressure. In various words, it is a force brings about electrons move your stuff in a certain direction our next conductor. But whenever we create the following “electrical pressure” in making electron flow? There are plenty of causes of EMF. Several of the more well-known models are: batteries, motors, and photovoltaic skin cells, just to name some. Batteries are constructed so there are plenty of electrons in a person material and an absence of in another fabric. The electrons like to balance the electrostatic ask for by moving around the material with the surplus electrons into the material together with the shortage of electrons. Nonetheless, they cannot because you cannot find any conductive path youngster should be travel. However, if these not one but two unbalanced materials within the battery are connected coupled with a good conductor, electrical current will flow should the electron moves with the negatively charged area on the positively charged vicinity. When you try a battery, you are allowing for electrons to pass in end of your battery through a conductor other like a bulb to and another end of a battery. The battery is appropriate until there's a hassle-free balance of electrons during both ends around the battery. Caution: never connect a conductor on the two ends on the battery without building the electrons undergo like a light bulb which inturn slows the pass of currents. If the electrons are permitted to flow too speedy the conductor can become very hot, and it as well as battery could really be damaged. We will explore how electrical motors use magnetism to set EMF in your coming section. Photovoltaic cells move light energy from sources like sun into vigor. To understand a photovoltaic process to consider about semiconductors so we will likely not cover them while doing this material.
Take this check out study more for the volt: What is actually a volt?
Sow can the amp as well as volt share details in electricity?
To learn how voltage coupled with amperage are relevant, it is sometimes beneficial to make an example with water. Consider picture here with water flowing originating from a garden hose. Bring to mind electricity flowing inside of a wire likewise as being the water flowing in different hose. The voltage resulting in the electrical regular to flow while in the wire is the water pressure along at the touch, which causes this type of water to circulate. If we were to extend the pressure around the hydrant, more water would flow while in the hose. Similarly, if perhaps we increase digital camera pressure or voltage, more electrons would flow while in the wire. Does you'll find it make sense when we finally were to take away the pressure within a hydrant by resorting it off, a pool would prevent flowing? The same well written with an utility circuit. If we get rid of the voltage source, and also EMF, no current will flow while in the wires. Another technique for saying it's: without the need of EMF, there might be hardly any present-day. Also, we could say that your chosen free electrons of your atoms transfer so that you can random directions unless they can be pushed or taken in one direction by an out of doors induce, which most people call electromotive compel, or simply EMF.
Exactly what is a volt?
Really (very technically), one volt is thought as being the electrostatic difference amongst two points if one joule of one's is used to transfer one coulomb with charge in denote the other. We already realise that a coulomb is a substantial amount electrons flowing recent any point with hospitality attire secondly, but what is actually a joule? A joule are sometimes a measurement of vigor. It is the sum energy that is consumed anytime a person watt of electricity works for starterst secondly. This is often called the wattsecond.
For the purposes, just accept the particular that one joule of one's is an particularly, very small degree of energy. Including, a typical 60-watt light bulb which is used in your desk or floor lamp is taking about 60 joules of one's each second its on. In never nearly such specialised terms, a volt is definitely the difference in a electrostatic charge that exists between not one but two points. It is this imbalance while in the electrostatic charge ample electrons to flow from a single point to a further location.

OHM'S LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
After reading this section it will be easier to do the examples below:
• Identify Ohm's legal requirements and discuss why it can be important.
• Calculate the quality of household current inside of a circuit using Ohm's guidelines.
Probably the essential mathematical rapport amongst voltage, current plus resistance during electric power is something labeled “Ohm’s Law”. Anyone named George Ohm written and published this formula around 1827 influenced by way of his experiments by using electricity. This formula can be used to calculate utility values so that the majority of us can design circuits plus use electricity originating from a useful manner. Ohm's Law is made below. All of variations of Ohm’s Legal requirements are mathematically even together. Let’s evaluate what Ohm’s Guidelines tells us. While in the first version around the formula, I = V/R, Ohm's Law tells us that your chosen electrical current flowing inside of a circuit is directly proportional on the voltage and inversely proportional so that you can any resistance. To paraphrase, an increase while in the voltage will are inclined to increase the prevailing while an improvement in resistance is going to normally decrease today's. The second version around the formula tells us that if either the predominant or the challenge is increased while in the circuit, the voltage will also should certainly increase. The third version of your remedy tells us that the increase in voltage can lead to an increase around resistance but that the increase in current can lead to a decrease around resistance. As you will see, voltage, current, plus resistance are mathematically, and perhaps, physically related together. We cannot correct electricity without all three of such properties being viewed as. (The symbol for any Ohm looks similar to a horseshoe and being pictured following on from the "100" in every diagram above. )

1. Ohm's Law can be used to describe a mathematical relationship somewhere between voltage, current, plus resistance.
After reading this section it will be easier to do the examples below:
• Define resistance and how you would measure it.
• Discuss a similarities between resistance originating from a wire and the resistance inside of a good water wash.

There is a further important property which can really be measured around electrical systems. This is actually resistance, which is definitely measured in products called ohms. Resistance is actually a term that pertains to the forces this oppose the pass of electron current originating from a conductor. All materials of course contain some resistance on the flow of electron present-day. We have not found easy methods to make conductors that not possess quite a few resistance. If we apply our water analogy that will serve picture resistance, think of a hose which is partially plugged by using sand. The sand is going to slow the pass of water while in the hose. We can express that any hammered hose has more resistance that should water flow as compared with does an unplugged hese. If it is good to get more waters right out a hose, we really should deliver the water pressure along at the hydrant. Similar very well with electricity. Elements utilizing low challenge let electricity pass conveniently. Materials with bigger resistance require extra voltage (EMF) to produce the electricity pass. The scientific definition of one ohm is the sum electrical resistance that exists while in the circuit when a person amp of regular is flowing by using one volt working on the outlet.
Is resistance good or bad?
Resistance is often both bad as well as good. If we attempt to transmit electricity into position to another through the conductor, resistance is undesirable while in the conductor. Resistance causes several of the electrical energy to show into heat so some energy is lost during your studies. However, it is resistance that we can use electricity to get heat and illumination. The heat that is definitely generated with electronic heaters or a light that the majority of us get from bulbs can be resulting from resistance. In a bulb, the electricity flowing through the filament, or the tiny wires included in the bulb, cause the theifs to glow bright white colored hot. If all the oxygen wasn't removed in the bulb, the wires would burn up. An important denote mention we find that the challenge is higher for the duration of smaller wires. Hence, if the voltage or EMF is great, too much present-day follows through compact wires and make the dog hot. In some scenarios hot enough to have a fire or sometimes explode. Therefore, it is actually sometimes useful to increase components called resistors on the circuit to slowly the flow with electricity and protect around the components in a circuit. Resistance is also good because the device gives us easy methods to shield ourselves with the harmful electrical electricity of electricity. We will converse more regarding this to the next page.
Critique
1. Resistance is definitely the opposition to utility current.
2. War is measured around units called ohms.
3. Resistance are probably desirable and oftentimes undesirable.

electric models
Ohm's Law will likely be applied to AIR CONDITIONER circuits. However, changing currents and voltages will be continually shifting. At the beginning of the measures the voltage plus current are 100 % free, building to summit positive values to get 90°, before declining in to totally free, and after that repeated in your harmful direction. It is therefore only possible that should calculate instantaneous principles of V or I on cycle. Peak or RMS values are often used. The AIR CONDITIONER resistance of capacitors plus inductors is 'reactance' (measured around Ohms). As every frequency is higher, capacitive reactance crashes, whereas inductive reactance heightens. Once the reactance is definitely calculated for T or L around the applied frequency, the additional value can be inserted while in the formula as to get resistance. Where there's a hassle-free combination of challenge and reactance the calculation discusses 'impedance', symbol Z ..
AC THEORY: Working Alternating Currents.
When two or more currents flow inside of a DC circuit they can be added or deducted directly. For parallel AIR CONDITIONER circuits the currents will likely to be at phase angles based upon any circuit capacitive plus inductive elements. A method the resultant are merely is graphically when shown, by measuring the amplitudes around the instantaneous values for your and B on waveform and contributing. The resultant level angle will might be towards the current making the very best contribution into a resultant. Phase differences above 90° probably are not considered, but it must be understood they do arise in simple circuits. The effective make use of phasors is a further approach. Select 'phasor diagrams topic' for any explanation.
AC WAY OF THINKING: Voltage and Regular for R.
For any parallel AIR CONDITIONERS outlet the voltage is common all-around all current organizations of R, J and L. Having said that, the current every branch has a phase angle contingent to the resistive, capacitive or inductive element of that component. For any capacitor, the prevailing is going to 'lead' the voltage and then to your inductor present-day will 'lag' a voltage. Whereas resistor currents plus voltages will almost allways be in phase. The instantaneous amplitudes with both voltage and current are merely at any point in the AIR CONDITIONERS waveform to get phase angles of 0 that should 360°.
AC WAY OF THINKING: Voltage and Regular for C.
For any parallel AIR CONDITIONERS outlet the voltage is common all-around all current organizations of R, J and L. Having said that, the current every branch has a phase angle contingent to the resistive, capacitive or inductive element of that component. For any capacitor, the prevailing is going to 'lead' the voltage and then to your inductor present-day will 'lag' a voltage. Whereas resistor currents plus voltages will almost allways be in phase. The instantaneous amplitudes with both voltage and current are merely at any point in the AIR CONDITIONERS waveform to get phase angles of 0 that should 360°. For the parallel AIR CONDITIONER rounds the voltage is definitely common across a lot of current branches with R, C coupled with L. However, today's for each branch can have a phase angle based upon any resistive, capacitive or inductive element of the particular ingredient. For the capacitor, today's will 'lead' the voltage and then to your inductor present-day will 'lag' a voltage. Whereas resistor currents plus voltages will almost allways be in phase. The instantaneous amplitudes with both voltage and current are merely at any point in the AIR CONDITIONERS waveform to get phase angles of 0 that should 360°.
Anchoring Inflation inBudget
The effort out how lease ability pants as well as government’s myopic and perhaps wrong policies around setting development items have caused runaway inflation which often can continue to bring its toll covering the upcoming budget.
The us govenment is now fast paced with very end adjustments for any next fiscal years of age, budget that might be tabled during a national parliament for June 7, 12. Although placed as being the proposed budget, an entire package ordinarily remains to be unchanged finally, except for very few revisions in fiscal measures over three weeks. Debate and discussion keep going. Generally, peoples’ focus on budget is dedicated to movement of selling prices of goods and services very important to them. That is the key reason why when economists coupled with experts are fast paced to examine the condition of deficit financing, mass People learn how much gardener pay additionally when bus fare or even just to purchase red onion. `Prices may disappear altogether, prices may go down ‘-titled news items could be the most scanned plus read items while in the newspaper from following on from the budget is formally announced while in the Parliament. Is point, for the huge people budget is definitely the vital instrument so that you can strengthen or damage their purchasing electricity. Any democratically chosen government mindful the following fact. The present-day government isn't a strong exception. In point, in several pre-budget support groups Finance Minister AMA Muhith will inform you by raising her concern regarding present-day inflationary pressure. A inflation rate maintains in double number. Muhith, however, expects that your will come to a single number and mounted in 9 % by the end around the current fiscal twelve months (FY12). The inflation rate is likewise on the decline recent months. The movement, however, is not visiting imply that typical price level should be reducing. Actually, its is a expanding tide with price level that is definitely slows. Moreover, resulting from base benefit, lower rate is likewise an challenge with concern. Against the following backdrop, the important question is that this finance minister attempts to be positive of the inflation by using budgetary steps plus whether he could do it. Lt is helpful that national inflation rate(on each basis or point-to-point when termed)jumped to two bottle digit in April 2009. Several hikes with fuel prices and its cascading effects on public transport private significantly contributed so that you can inflation. The hike or adjustment of one's consumption price is certainly caused by due to make some relief for subsidy burden gathered from rental electricity. In the name of fast solution of power challenge, without properly reviewing the consequence, the government’s go on to rental and easy rental power generating were a recommended move. As administration allowed us pay for electricity at a strong inflated level amongst Tk9. 45 plus Tk22 in each one unit, the confidential sector sponsors open it a huge business. Moreover, assurance presenting fuel oils in the subsidized level elevated their enthusiasm. Bangladesh power Progression Board (BPDB) definitely is purchasing electricity during Tk2. 50 a component to its subscribers in the country. This creates substantial fiscal burden should the country has for it to cost a fantastic Tk 6 million crore as petrol subsidy nowadays in such a fiscal year. To the other present, some 32 lease and quick housing power plants were established over the past three years, that only 20 usually are in operating now. These power flowers altogether produce just about 1300 megawatts (Mw) with electricity everyday about the capacity of all over 2000MW. Some experts are of your view that quick rental are sometimes a temporary solution only whilst some believe to often be misallocation of options. As huge a higher standard investment ought to be spent for it to sustain, many essential development works needs to be curtailed. The regular budgets, passed around June 2009, generate things worse, overambitious expenditure system without well groundwork of financing forced the us govenment to borrow directly with the principal bank. Thus increased a high powered capital (bills printed and circulated while in the monetary system) plus Push money manufacture fueling inflating further more. In fact, the us govenment started to pay for big projects but it created compulsion to prevent at it. But sources with fund became squeezed mainly attributable to lower disbursement with foreign aid. Based on the gap, the government moved that should heavy bank borrowing from the bank causing pressure pertaining to Private sector. Hence, banks and bank have been experiencing from liquidity deficiency. Mega construction plans like several flyovers while in the capital city to eliminate traffic over-crowding will be another example with resource diversion looking over the authentic precedence. Even half of your fund for all these projects could procede with visiting restructuring the train, as it can certainly make overall transportation simple and painless. This will likely easily dampen a inflationary demands as being the movement of essentials in the country became inexpensive and safer. When every increase of fuel price forces individuals that to pay excess cost for public transport and even traders to pay back extra cost to get public transport and even traders to endure additional charge pertaining to carrying goods around trucks, revival of railway is definitely the option to attack price pressure while in the medium and permanent. Along utilizing diminishment of profit amount, the move so that you can impose 10 % tax at reference on profit gained against getting savings instruments in the last fiscal year was also the wrong step. Such steps discouraged peoples’ efficient savings and encouraged them into not sure, speculative investment especially sold in the market. Although the overtax rate has lower to 5 % nowadays in the following fiscal year, net sale with saving certificates is quite negligible. To keep away from crowding out benefits in bank lender, government finally revised profit rate for different savings instrument that is yet to draw in desired investments. Bangladesh Bank’s go on to contain inflation by way of rising policy home interest rates also come less than question as capital measures contradict economical stance. Although regulating administration later tested out to resort so that you can money conservatism by way of increasing fuel selling prices, it again encouraged the reccommended amount level upward. The fact is, oil is your universal input that directly and indirectly enters on the price production with different commodities. Hence, the increase with oil price includes direct and oblique cost-push effects which could aggravate inflationary fads. This thing is has been developing in Bangladesh the last one and one half years. In a really complex situation, our finance minister may table his budget where bigger to accommodate a number of political demands as being the time for country's election comes finer. This would signify, relaxing tax measures to have a lot of business enterprise quarters happy, extension of allocation to get mega projects plus adoption for innovative development projects without the need of examining any Foreign Monetary Fund (IMF), some reduction with subsidy and limited increase while in the allocation for public safety nets will likely to be there. Another round of one's and fuel price hike will likely to be there. Another round of one's and fuel price hike will likely to be there very in the near future also. All these measures could fuel inflationary pressure this fiscal year. By way of example, relaxing several overtax measures will begin a gap in sales generation and government need to go for substantial bank borrowing. A surely will petrol inflation. Again, Subsidy trim in agriculture heightens production costs. As a final point, price hike of one's will substantially erode the best income within a mass people. Hence, it is most unlikely that budgetary options provides some respite of inflation this fiscal year.
With all the 2015 finish line for any Millennium Development Goals coming soon, the UN includes begun championing just what exactly it hopes is next covering the development agenda- sustainable energy for almost all of Give anyone a fish as well, you feed him for your day; teach a dude to fish and you simply feed him for lifetime. This analogy includes often been named the difference amongst charity and enhancer work, It is likewise an interesting resource for distinguishing amongst development, and its not too distant future buzz phrase, safe development’. So what is the variance, I hear you discuss with? Sustainable development is about being sure people around the planet can satisfy its basic needs lately, while making sure future generations might also will enjoy the same lifestyle. It recognises now there presently exist some interconnected `pillars’- a economy, society and even environment. The thought, which is correct and holistic, has been in for decades and it's somewhat incorporated in different Millennium Development ment Desired goals (MDGs), which the fact is that expire in 2015. Salvaging our universe, lifting people outside poverty, advancing economic growth - nearly every one is one and precisely the same fight, ” reported Us Secretary Typical Ban Kil-moon around September 2009. So that you can tackle this exact fight, the UN includes acknowledged that sustainable development is simply not possible without sustainable energy and has now since launched progressive initiative called ‘Sustainable Vigor All’. The objectives so that you can universal the methods for access modern energy efficiency while in the universal energy mix- all of by- 2030 can happen a critical factor for Bangladesh, who has suffered an energy crisis lately. According to Medical professional Atiq Rahman, Administration Director of Bangladesh middle of the town for Highly made studies (BCAS), more than37 per-cent of Bangladeshis continue to keep without a very simple electrical light. Bangladesh also uses gas to come across 70 percent with its energy demands an unsustainable fuel source to any extent further. In less than just a week, Rio+20 the UNITED NATIONS Conference on Supportable Progression will welcome leaders from globally for the second amount of time in 2 whole a long time, to agree upon an effective transition on the way to a green financial state, how to generate essential investment around renewable energy, to discuss the efficient working with of nature options and share research coupled with innovative technologies. In the lead as much as the summit, we have seen numerous discussion in regards to what Bangladesh can dream to get from visiting Rio+20 and what the land will do post-2015 with regards to development goals. ``what pertaining to having Bangladesh enhancer goals? Where is ownership to get a MDGs? To what extent could be the MDGs be more conscious of budgetary and Parliamentary scrutiny and oversight? ’’ demands MP saber Hossain chowdhury, chairman around the parliamentary group for climate and situations, at a UNDP put roundtable. He suggest Bangladesh necessitates goals of unique with certain romance to global aspirations but which is measurable and achievable for any getting country. ``In the past we certainly have had a country approach with regards to international challenges and has now simply not previously worked, “explains Chowdhury. ‘‘In the last we may private existed as192 small boats as well as priority then was to make sure these boats could not collide when people did, they wouldn’t mess up. Now the task of international governance is that the majority of us are on a person big ship by using 192 cabins- you’re examining one captain and steward nobody can navigate this watercraft. ” The MP produces, ‘‘we shouldn’t just simply assume we experience a fix to sustainability for the reason that once people admit that reality, we will regulate expectations. [the UN summits) , a lot from Copenhagen [climate summit]-we were disappointed. I think in Rio, we should not expect too much because it is not going to revolutionise the way we do international governance or international processes.’’ Chairman of the palli karma-Sahayak Foundation (PkSF), Qazi kholiquzzaman Ahmad, who is expected to lead Bangladesh’s delegation at the summit, is also somewhat disappointed by other countries’ broken pledges. ‘‘Of the E30 billion committed by the wealthy nations for climate vulnerable countries, just over S 3.5 billion was actually released in two years. At Rio we must not miss the opportunity to demand what we need.” Dr Hasan Mahmud, the minister of Environment and Forest, believes Bangladesh is on the right path to achieving the MDGs. ‘‘Bangladesh set an example to the rest of the developing world. It has been playing a vital role in the climate change negotiation and it is currently the chair of the Most Vulnerable Countries group. ‘‘We are trying to play the same role in the Rio+20, in the future development future development framework and in achieving SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals]. We have engaged leading economists and people who have been working in this field of environment for a long time and after long consultation we have made a country position paper of 32points- we are one of the first countries that has presented its country position paper [ to Rio+20] on time.’’ The Minster expresses more optimism than Chowdhury and Ahmad; by saying he expects renewed commitment by different governments. ‘‘I strongly believe we will need development and industrialisation but we do not need pollute our environment anymore. We should protect our environment and the private sector has a very vital role to help protect the environment. So I don’t agree with the people who say we need to rely on the private and public -it has to be a composition of both private and public and the steering wheel should be in the hand of the public sector to achieve these goals, ‘Says Dr Mahmud. The truth is the private sector has taken the lead in implementing sustainable energy methods until now. Grameen’s Shakti Programme (Green Energy) and Rahimafrooz’s Renewable Energy division has made solar home systems available and affordable to rural populations while social business enterprises such as, waste concern have been turning a waste crisis into agreen business by collecting and recycling waste. Rio+20 is certainly Bangladesh’s government’s opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to turning the country green but as everyone can agree, there is a lot more talk than there is action at this point. Unfortunately for those who desperately need access to a light in their homes now, it may be some years before Bangladesh’s Public sector actually takes that steering wheel.
Special Tariffs for Dedicated power supply
The government has announced special tariffs for dedicated power supply at an average rate of 14.44 taka per unit, as a way to ensure uninterrupted power supply measure for industrial units in the country. Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) Chairman Syed Yusuf Hossain at a press conference made the announcement of special power tariffs at three separate rates for special-category consumers. Bangladesh power Development Board (BERC) in its proposal said per- unit production cost at liquid fuel-based power plants is too high, which is reason why the power plant have failed to Produce electricity to their maximum capacity. The BERC has fixed the retail power tariffs from 132kv transmission line at 13.88 taka per unit, from33Kv transmission lines at 14.45 taka, and from 11kv transmission lines at 14.99 taka per unit. BERC , however, also announced the bulk or company-level power tariffs from 132kv transmission lines at 8.10 taka per unit, from 33kv, transmission lines at 8.67 taka a unit and from 11kv, transmission lines at 9.06 taka per unit, from DESCO 33kv transmission lines at 8.59 taka per unit and from DESCO 11kv transmission lines at 9.13 taka per unit. BPDB on April 15 proposed to provide to quality or uninterrupted power supply from eight liquid fuel-based power plants. The plants are 50-megawatt katakhali power plant, 110-megawatt Haripur BMPP Power plant,100-megawatt Meghnaghat power plant, 100-megawatt Siddhirganj power plant , 40-megawatt Noapara plant,100- megawatt keraniganj  power plant and 115- megawatt Khulna power plant. BERC has put an embargo on supply of electricity from these eight power plants to general consumers.
 Jilin Tianhua Opto-electrical Technology Development Co., Ltd., production and sale of precise optical elements. Our company locates in Changchun City, Jilin Province, the optical base of China. We specialize in cylindrical mirror. There are more than 60 people in the company, who are researchers and professional technicians of Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Our company has advanced optical cold-working detecting equipments and process equipments, and provides high-quality products and professional services for customers. We can produce cylindrical mirrors of different specifications, sizes, radii, materials and special shapes or organized types. We can process high-precision cylindrical mirrors of special optical characters, such as: achromatic cylindrical mirror, parabolic mirror, cylindrical ellipsoidal mirror and hyperbolic mirror. Cylindrical mirrors of complicated shapes, such as: fan-typed, off-axis cylindrical mirror, angular cylindrical mirror, etc. In addition, we produce other optical elements such as flat mirror, window, prism, spherical lens, etc. Our company can design and process all kinds of optical elements according to requirements, and do gluing and filming on products. Substrate materials we usually use are optical glass, BK7, K9, violet quartz, ultrared quartz, CAF2 crystal ZF soft material, etc. (Special material should be supplied by customers) The company takes “be faithful and honest, keep quality first, supply products on time and pursue perfect” as its operational principle. We are glad to communicate and cooperate widely with friends in domestic and abroad. We promise: to become your “wholesaler” of optical elements with high quality, high speed and low price.Abstract: In describing the principles of precision honing, based on the mechanical and electrical technology based on the horizontal precision of honing machines to analysis and automation solutions and overall design. Keywords: Servo HM Abstract: In describing the principles of precision honing on the basis of mechanical and electrical technology based on the horizontal precision honing machines to analysis and automation solutions and overall design. Keywords: Servo System HMI PLC 1 Introduction cutting metal and other materials, forming areas of honing finishing late are finished processing, the aim is to obtain a smaller surface roughness and to slightly improve the accuracy. Blade by blade shape and honing the number is not fixed abrasive grinding or cutting small allowance method. 2 honing process principles embedded in the honing head with Whetstone (also known as honing) the essence of the finishing surface finishing, also known as the boring mill. Honing of the holes are used in processing, but also sometimes used as needed to process honing cylindrical, flat, tapered holes and non-circular hole (eg, non-circular rotary engine honing). Honing does not have to hang all the holes before the requirements are, in addition to honing need to processing requirements, to be able to improve the dimensional accuracy, shape accuracy, surface accuracy, and even the location accuracy. Almost all the industrial applications of process materials can be used honing. Depending on the workpiece material select the appropriate cutting sand bar, making the hard honing process and can not deal with hard steel, cast iron, bronze, light metal, alloy and chrome powder coated metal or other processing. Processing diameter size range 1-2000 mm, work piece length to 24 meters. Honing the whole range of applications has been extended to the field of metal processing industries. The main application areas: automotive, tool and machine tool industries, hydraulic and pneumatic components manufacturing, and aerospace sectors. In addition to the air compressor and motor manufacturing in the honing process has also been widely used. 3 program design developed by the Central DigiWalker horizontal precision honing machine with high efficiency and performance, the system not only accurately honing round workpiece, the workpiece and can accurately detect the inner circle of the "bump", the processing efficiency is far more than internal grinder. Based on mechanical and electrical technology in the automation of horizontal honing machine precision shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 Horizontal Precision Honing Machine Automation Control System 3.1, the core process and control system requirements analysis honing and "bump" test at the same time, honing the thickness of the main by the honing stone, hydraulic control testing to achieve a common raster and PLC, as Taiwan servo control of 32EH00M to receive special PLC Series 2-channel differential input, so no additional conversion circuit, the signal encoder can directly access PLC, servo drive and the same time, the output frequency direct input PLC, for real-time detection of the absolute machine position. In the actual honing process, due to the workpiece within the circle of the "bump" exists, the resulting moment of honing a variable frequency motor current peak, the core of PLC memory using the system during the formation of the current position of the peak, and then control the server in this car " bump "the number of swing honing, honing to achieve the desired accuracy, but also according to the radius of the inner circle grating detection, automatic grinding to a set thickness. So the system uses variable frequency load / current linear mapping, completed the workpiece within the circle of the "bump" test. Delta V Series variable frequency drive for the whole vector high-performance, fast and accurate response to changes in the load current, while Delta PLC communication fast sampling frequency using the current key for the system. 3.2 Control structure design control structure shown in Figure 2. Figure 2 Structure 3.3 servo control hardware control program PLC: DVP32EH00M Delta servo only. Drive: VFD075V43 full vector-controlled Delta. Servo system: 3000W / Delta series of inertia. System cabinet See Figure 3. Figure 3 cabinet Servo System 3.4 key control human-computer interface design is shown in Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6. Figure 4 Figure 5 Servo System Monitoring Parameters page to set screen 1 screen 2 in Figure 6 to set the servo parameters of the main technical specifications of 3.5 (1) processing aperture: 3-250mm (2) Maximum processing length: 2500mm (3) Spindle speed: 50-600 turn / min, stepless speed regulation (4) honing speed: 1.00m-22m / min (5) Spindle power: 7.5KW (6) machine power: 3KW (7) pump power: 400W 4 Conclusion program run R & D results indicate that system design to achieve the desired design effect. The machine can process various materials within the round piece, from hardened steel, cast iron, carbide, ceramics to aluminum, bronze, Plexiglas and other hard and soft materials, and other materials difficult to machine the workpiece within the circle. As Delta PLC / EH Series offers large-capacity power-down to keep the data register (8000), so the control system performance can be achieved with no other peripherals, the user process recipe storage, easy to spot the characteristics of the production of flexible scheduling. References [1] Delta ASDA servo drive manual. Delta Group [2] Delta PLC programming manual.
Electricaland Information Technology
Electroscience
In Electroscience, about 60 employees are working in four research groups. The groups work together focusing on applications in, for example, wireless communication and medical engineering.Research covers most of the aspects of analogue and digital technology, from a theoretical and comprehensive system level, to specific algorithms and circuits. Courses are given for a number of programmes, but mostly for the programme in Electrical Engineering. Research is divided into the four main areas given below: In Electronic Design, integrated circuits (microchips) with specific functions are designed and developed, mainly for wireless communication, image processing and medical applications, e.g. pacemakers. The demands vary depending on the area of application, but high computational capacity and low energy consumption are central. Research is carried out in both analogue and digital circuits, as well as conversion between these kinds of signals. Keywords: circuit design, analogue, digital, integrated circuits, FPGA, field-programmable gate array Researchers in Radio Systems are working on the basic issues of radio communication. They are studying the propagation of radio waves from transmitters to receivers, and developing technical solutions as well as complete systems. Their main aims are to develop quick, efficient and robust systems for future wireless communication.Keywords: radio systems, radio channels, propagation of electromagnetic waves, antennae, wireless networks, mobile telephony, systems with multiple input and output (MIMO), multi-carrier technology (OFDM), ultra-wideband (UWB), communication with medical implants Within the field of Signal Processing, the electrical activity of the human body is being investigated with the aim of developing methods and algorithms for medical diagnostics and treatment. Special emphasis is placed on methods for the analysis of heart signals resulting from arrhythmia, such as atrial fibrillation, or in connection with dialysis; and also the modelling and analysis of biological rhythms, mainly heart frequency variability.
 

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SolAR POwer

Power Technologyand Engineering
Power Technology and Engineering investigates all aspects of electrical power generation and distribution, with an emphasis on sustainable technologies and environmentally sensitive issues.
Home Solar Power Technology
Sunlight is one of the few things that people can enjoy for free. With that, the ingenuity employed in the creation of solar power generators for homes made sunlight one of the agreeable alternatives to fuel and coal-based energies. Not only does sunlight provide electricity to operate home appliances, architects and engineers are now taking advantage of its thermal properties to create solar homes as their way of effectively reducing the need for air conditioning units, giving home and building owners the chance to cut down energy costs in maintaining comfort in every room.Solar energy is one of the most popular alternative sources of energy. Even the government supports the utilization of solar power in average American homes. In its move to promote awareness on the environmental and economic benefits of renewable and pollution-free sources of energy, incentives are now given to families who compensate their need for electricity with home solar power generators.Along with the advancement of the technologies involved in harnessing solar energy, a number of energy-efficient home appliances have been created to replace conventional fuel energy-dependent home appliances. For instance, there are now solar heating systems that are integrated in keeping swimming pools warm during colder months. We can now see a number of home air conditioning components such as vents and blowers that operate independently, thanks to their built-in and power-generating solar panels.
When it comes to home aesthetics, solar lightings and fountains are now gaining popularity because of their energy-efficient and wireless features. All of which are easy to install for they depend on their built-in solar power generators to operate. Aside from providing greener alternatives to powering home amenities, it relieves the families of the agonies of bearing with the ever increasing electric costs.When talking about the environmental implications of utilizing solar power for homes, its main benefit is its lack of pollution. Unlike fuel and coal-based energy sources, solar energy does not give off noxious gases or substances that add up to the many forms of environmental pollutions.And since they operate cleanly, there is no need for maintenance when it comes to solar powers for homes. Also, since they operate cleanly, the equipment used in generating solar power are not subject to damage. This ensures long-term service even with absolutely no maintenance.
Using Solar Energy For Homes
While it is never cheap to go green, return of investment on solar energy generator for homes is fast. On the average, a home solar power generator costs around $2,000 to $15,000. This will translate to a lot of savings in the long run as it relieves you of the outrageous electric bills that you pay on a monthly basis.And while you gain independence in terms of energy, the excess amount of energy that your home power generators produce can be sold to a local energy provider. Hence, it keeps you from being constantly worrying on your monthly electric bills every time regular fuel rates increase.Establishing solar power for the home presents a guiltless alternative to energy consumption. Its main source of energy is readily available, pollution-free and can be used free of charge. To make the shift to solar power more appealing to American families, most states are now implementing financial stimuli in adapting solar power technologies among American homes.With the tax incentives given by the state government, adopting solar energy generators proposes a great way of earning substantial savings throughout the life of the solar system.

Solar Technology
Solar power is an intermittent energy source, meaning that solar power is not available at all times, and is normally supplemented by storage or another energy source, for example with wind power and hydropower.Solar power is produced by collecting sunlight and converting it into electricity.  To create solar power, there are two types ofsolar technologyeither directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP).Photovoltaics were initially used to power small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to off-grid homes powered by a photovoltaic array.Concentrated solar power normally focuses the sun's energy to boil water which is then used to provide power, and other technologies, such as the sterling engine dishes which use a sterling cycle engine to power a generator.
Commercial CSP plants were first developed in the 1980s, and the 354 MW SEGS CSP installations is currently the largest solar power plant in the world and is located in the Mojave Desert of California. The 80 MW Sarnia Photovoltaic Power Plant in Canada, is currently the world’s largest photovoltaic plant.
Experimental approaches to solar power use different types of
solar technology
include concentrated
photovoltaic’ssystems, thermo voltaicdevices, and space-based solar power.
For more  solar technology articles, view some of our other blog posts.
The Power of Educational Technology
Demonstrating the power of technology to transform learning, energize communities and inspire innovative thinking.
This is my second time organizing edcamp Boston, but over the last few years I have organized 5 other unconferences. What strikes me the most about organizing these events is how easy it is to do. The sponsorship and food parts take work, but other than that, you build a schedule and the participants do the work. Really! I know many of us say this, but it really is true. Once the conference gets going, there isn't much that we have to do.My favorite example of this was the  session yesterday where the presenter didn't show up. Everyone in the room looked at me. I am an organizer and I got to rock the awesome red organizer shirt, but I don't know anything about Edmodo. So I did what we edcamp organizers do best, I turned the question back to the room. Does anyone here know something about Edmodo. And two wonderful participants stepped up,Glenn Blakely  and Matt Cronin,  and did a great job of explaining this tool. Which by the way I'm going to try with my 7th graders tomorrow.
I also discovered a new way to learn at an unconference. Rather than posting a session about something I know about and want to share, I posted sessions about something I want to learn about and discuss. I turned edcampBoston into edcampLiz. Fortunately for me, there were lots of smart folks there who could teach me what I wanted to learn.Which right now is about iPads. If you have been reading my blog, you know that I am pretty obsessed with iPads right now. I want to thank everyone at the conference who helped push my learning and thinking on this topic. Here is what I came away with.

Professional Development:
I got a lot of suggestions about how to roll iPads out to my faculty.. She suggested assigning my faculty some games to play on the iPad. I love the idea. I think I'm going to ask folks to sign up for either words with Friend or, my new obsession,Draw Something . We will share our usernames and I will encourage folks to play at least one game with one other colleague over the summer. Not only will this teach iPad skills, but it is a good team building and connecting tool as well.I got some great App suggestions yesterday. By far my favorite is a Mac App which acts like an Apple TV, allowing you to mirror your iPad on your laptop. You can try it for free for 20 minutes, or pay 14.00 to use it. I followed up about a site license and they offered me 60 licenses at $8 each. That is a lot cheaper than an Apple TV and it works (We have been having difficulty getting the Apple TV to work at my school.)!Another great suggestion is the website,ipad as put together byTom Daccord Tom Daccord  team. They have compiled a list of Apps based on learning goals. Each App has a nice description. A wonderful resource for tools.
Other Apps I walked away with include zite , a tool for aggregating all of your news feeds into categories,pocket , a tool for saving websites to read later, and Logmein a free tool to use your iPad as a wireless remote for your laptop.Finally, and thanks if you are still reading this far into my post, I created an iPad Google Group to continue the conversation. If you are interested in discussing iPads, please join and share your thoughts and questions.And of course I welcome your comments here. If you have rolled out iPads to your faculty and students, I would love to hear your suggestions on what are some good approaches for doing this.
Arguments for the ipad in Education--As we continue to explore the possibility of becoming a 1:1 iPad school, I am starting to put together my arguments in favor of this adoption. Here are some of my thoughts so far. I would welcome your feedback on this document!
Why 1 to 1?
In a digital world where information on a multitude of subjects is both abundant and immediately available, students today must learn to effectively access, analyze, synthesize and integrate this information on a regular basis. By providing our students with immediate access to a digital tool, such as a laptop or a tablet, we provide them with the world at their finger-tips (literally). In a time when the ability to discover an answer is more important than the ability to memorize and regurgitate the answer, we must make those answers readily available to both our students and faculty. If we want a pedagogical shift, 1:1 access to a digital tool will help both to facilitate and to force this change to happen.
Why the iPad (and not a laptop)?
There are many reasons that the iPad makes the most sense as the best tool for our 1 to 1 transition. The low screen profile makes a huge difference in a Harkness/discussion classroom, retaining the intimacy of the classroom conversation without the distraction of a laptop screen. The portability and tablet format allow the iPad to double as an e-reader for textbooks. This will lighten student backpacks and lower their textbook costs. Finally, in addition to internet access, iPad education Apps provide new and engaging ways for students to learn and understand complex concepts.
Why the iPad (and not a different tablet or a bring your own device model)?
Given that we are an Apple school, the iPad makes the most sense for us as an institution. Our faculty are comfortable with the MacOS and many already use iPhones and iPods. Maintaining a single platform for all students will make for the smoothest transition to 1 to 1 by giving all students access to the same tools, books and Apps.
What about the iPad 3 (or 4 or 5...)?
At this time the additional features of the iPad3 are not meaningful enough for us to upgrade and the new lower price of the iPad2 make it even more attractive and accessible to us. As newer models of the iPad are released, we will have to consider the lowest version when we make our App and book choices. If we look at the iPhone as a model, as each new iPhone was released, the newest Apps and Operating system continued to function on older models. Just as we replace our faculty laptops every 3 years, we will need to consider a replacement schedule for our iPads. Students should be able to make it through grades 7-12 with no more than 2 iPad purchases.Will students and faculty continue to need access to a laptop or desktop computer?At this time faculty will definitely continue to need laptops or desktops for word processing, printing and more complex computing tasks. For some students the iPad may be sufficient for their needs, but many will continue to need access to a computer.
EdcampIS Organizers Introduction
I just returned from Seattle where I helped to run edcampIS, an unconference for independent school educators following the If you read my blog or know me, you know all about this. You know that I have been running unconferences for years. You know that I love them. And, I loved this one just as much as the rest. The day went wonderfully. I had conversations about iPads, about assessment, about parent education and much more. I have lots of notes and lots of ideas of things I want to try, change and do.
EdcampIS Session Board
However, my biggest take-away from this entire experience was that it ACTUALLY HAPPENED! I'm still just not over that.I had an idea, I shared it with my PLN, people stepped up (amazing people) and my idea became a reality. Over the years I have had lots and lots and lots of ideas, but this is the first time I've ever attempted something this big and had it come to fruition. I've been talking about the power of the network for a long time (blah, blah, blah), but I'm not sure I really believed it until now.
Finally, there were all of the people who showed up to make the conference happen. Many of whom had never been to an edcamp or an unconference, yet were willing to open them selves up to the possibilities. I've never seen a session board fill so quickly. I hope we can continue this experience at NAISAC13 in Philly!Now it is time to turn my attention to edcamp Boston. I hope to see you there, May25th Microsoft NEED center, Cambridge MA. Be there or be a rhombus. if the snow doesn't stop me. This would be the one storm of the entire winter, on the day I am flying to Seattle for two great conferences, the first  (edcamps). I'm looking forward to both, and hoping I get there tonight.The theme of this year's NAISAC12 is "Innovation." That seems to be the buzz word of the year. I really like their sub-title: "imagine, invent, inspire, dream." Those are great verbs and I'm hoping to do all 4 out in Seattle.And then I head to the much anticipated (by me) edcampIS,abrain-child of mine last year, that is finally coming to fruition.  It has been amazing to me to organize this conference from 3,000 miles away. It would not be happening if hadn’t been for Ben Lee ,  who have done all of the serious legwork on the ground in Seattle. I can't believe I have never met Jac or Greg in person. I feel like I know them so well!I can't tell you what sessions I will attend at edcampIS, because they don't exist yet! That is one of the best parts about un-conferences, the spontaneous nature of the experience. Because we post our sessions on the day of the event, we have the opportunity to hear from people who might not have presented or been accepted to present at a typical conference (like me, who's NAISAC proposal was denied).  I'm really looking forward to seeing what unfolds.I just hope the snow holds off for little while longer!I attended an interesting workshop about digital ethics, given by youth and digital media scholar based at Hard project Zero . I am always searching for digital citizenship resources that acknowledge the positives of student use of social media and don't try to scare the pants off of kids. Katie presented a very interesting perspective and posed some great questions for discussion with students. Her work is part of the Good work project, where you can find an extensive unit for use with High School students. I'm hoping to work some of this into my curriculum next year.I struggle with fitting this kind of instruction into our school day. We don't have a computer class built into our schedule. How are you teaching digital ethics? Do you have any good resources to share?There is always so much to think about on the way home from Educon. And this year was no different. As I sit home unraveling my experience, I am feeling a mix of emotions. As always it was wonderful to see my old Educon friends and meet many new ones. I attended some interesting sessions, presented anEncienda  (20 slides, 15 seconds per slide), and presented a session with Lisa Thumann.
Here are some of my take-aways.
Boy is this a heady experience! Educon lives in the brain. It is a conference of ideas and ideas and ideas. Each session tries to think positively about ways we can improve our educational system. When I leave the conference I often feel my head is going to explode. The next step is to take all of these swirling pieces of something in my brain and put them together to create an actionable step in my professional life. That is the biggest challenge. Boy do I dislike panels. I finally came to the realization that I just don't like panels. It isn't the panelists, it isn't the setting, it isn't the topic, it is the structure itself. First of all, I'm not afraid to admit I have a short attention span. Listening to people talk, without being able to interact with them, is not my favorite type of learning. I can stand a lecture if it is well crafted with a story to tell and an interesting message. The problem with panels (for me) is that the topics jump all over the place. I often feel like the panelists are just vying to get their voices heard (as opposed to having something to say). There are occasionally bits of genius mixed in, but I find it hard to pay attention enough to catch them. This year I watched the Friday night panel in the overflow room (next year I might watch from Mace's crossing ;-). If I follow the Tweets, I might glean more than if I were in the room.Boy does the Educon crowd use social media well. The aggregation of information through a single hashtag brilliant. I know I can look back and learn from the sessions I couldn't attend. This level of comfort brings the technology the closest to "oxygen" than any conference I've been to.Boy are there a lot of good teachers at Educon. Half of what I learn by attending sessions are pedagogical teaching methods and protocols that I can try in my classrooms. I don't just come away with ideas, I come away with methodologies that I can use to support learning (regardless of the content) with my students.Boy have I heard a lot of this stuff before. I can't deny I'm getting a little jaded. Each year we talk about the same ideas - giving students more choice, students as teachers, problem based learning, innovation, 21st century learning, higher level thinking, blah blah blah blah blah. Using the What if, and, and, and protocol introduced to me .What if Educon did the talking and the walking, and each one of us left with one concrete action that we could bring back to our schools, and we made a connection with one other person who promised to support us in that endeavor, and we publicly shared our progress on completing that action, and we came back each year and built on that action until all the little pieces made a big change? Wouldn't that be cool!
At my first Educon
This will be my fifth Educon, and over time, my relationship with this conference has changed, from the freshman excitement of meeting everyone for the first time at Educon 2.0 to the highly anticipated sophomore year, when I couldn't wait to go back and see everyone, to my junior year, where the the familiarityof a place I know well led me to give some Educon advice, and finally my last year as a senior attendee I shared abit of my disillusionment . And even though I should perhaps have graduated, I'm still committed to this extraordinary conference.
Here are a few reasons I keep going back.
1. The People - For this reason alone I would keep going back. My Twitter network came alive at my first Educon and now it feels like a reunion every time I go back. There are people there I only see once or twice a year, with whom I have developed strong relationships. Every year I add more people to the list.
2. The Conversations - I can always count on having interesting conversations with people who are facing the same issues I am at their schools. In so many places I am ahead of the pack, doing things others have yet to try.  Not so at Educon, where I can always find someone who is far ahead of me. I learn so much from those folks.
3. The SLA students - I am always impressed and inspired by the kids who help run this conference. They are an example to me of what students can accomplish if they are given the responsibility, trust and inspiration that The Science Leadership Academy provides for them.
4. The Challenge - Challenge comes in many forms at Educon, there are people who challenge your beliefs and ask tough questions. There are events that require meeting people you don't know (which can be scary at times). And this year I am challenging myself to do an Encienda Educon presentation, something I have never done before.
5. The Sessions - I guess it is ironic that the actual sessions are last on my list. I certainly have not forgotten them. I always enjoy both presenting and attending sessions with this community. There are som many great sessions to choose from, it can be difficult to choose one.
Marginal Oil Production Cost Nearing $92 Per Barrel
Posted by Big Gav in oil price ,peak oil
Future Pundit points to a Bernstein Research paper describing the marginal cost of oil production.
Energy analysts at Bernstein say the marginal cost of oil production, already $92 per barrel, is nearing $100 per barrel.
The marginal cost of the 50 largest oil and gas producers globally increased to US$92/bbl in 2011, an increase of 11% y-o-y and in-line with historical average CAGR growth. Assuming another double digit increase this year, marginal costs for the 50 largest oil and gas producers could reach close to US$100/bbl.Their analysis does not include OPEC or former Soviet Union producers. But this does not matter. Since the former SU and OPEC aren't going to grow their production fast enough to meet rising world demand the marginal cost of the other producers will determine at what price rising demand and market price will meet.This rapidly rising marginal cost of production is what Peak Oil looks like. Peak Oil is going to happen because marginal cost will go too high for the world economy to afford to pay what it takes to boost production. At that point oil production will start falling. I originally expected peak production to happen at a much higher price for oil. But the European debt crisis, the deceleration of Chinese economic growth, and the continued weak US economic recovery make me think peak global oil production will happen at a price not much higher than current oil prices.The costs of tight shale oil is very high and high oil prices are needed to keep it flowing."The United States is producing an awful amount of oil from tight shale and tight sands reservoirs... If oil prices send a signal and drop below the $90-$80 level it is going to be uneconomic to drill those well. So drilling will stop immediately," said Michel Hulme, fund manager at Lombard Odier.How high an oil price is needed to start world oil demand headed on a downward slope? Higher or lower than the current price range near $90-100?
SustainableBusiness.com reports that the first power purchase agreement fortidal power in the US has been signed in Maine -Historic day for Tidal Energy in  the us.
Maine regulators have directed three utilities to buy 4 megawatts (MW) of tidal electricity from Ocean Renewable Power Company, making it the first state to commercialize ocean energy.Installation of the first unit began in March and in Cobscook Bay and will be finished by late summer, feeding electricity to the grid by October 1.In fall 2013, the company will add four more devices with a total capacity of 900 kilowatts, enough to power about 100 homes.The 4 MW project will suppy electricity for over 1000 homes by 2016.The Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved a term sheet for the nation's first power purchase contract for tidal energy, to be in place for 20 years.The term sheet sets the price to be paid for tidal power at 21.5 cents per kilowatt hour, much higher than typical rates of 11-12 cents. The rate will rise 2% a year and makes the project feasible.In making the decision, regulators looked at what the cost of fossil fuels would be over 20 years and decided they would likely be even higher. In fact, they see tidal energy being cost-competitive in as little as five years.The International Energy Agency's International Vision for Ocean Energy sets a goal for the technology to be cost-competitive by 2020.
 Decline
 Bandesh bans pesticide linked to bee
Farmers Weekly has a report on a Bangladesh ban on pesticides linked todecliningbee population - Bangladesh bans pesticide linked to bee decline..
The Bangladesh government has banned a pesticide linked to the decline of bees that is widely used to treat oilseed rape. Cruiser OSR, which contains the neonicotinoid insecticide thiamethoxam, was banned for use on oilseed rape by the French Ministry of Agriculture. Made by the Swiss agrichemical company , Cruiser OSR is a seed treatment, which is coated onto the rape seeds.The decision to ban Cruiser follows two studies earlier this year. which found evidence that neonicotinoids contain chemicals that disorientate bees and prevent them from finding their way back to hives, causing colony collapse disorder. Announcing the ban, France's Ministry of Agriculture said it would be pushing for a European-wide ban with the European Commission and the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA).Bees are vitally important to agriculture for pollinating our food crops and maintaining biodiversity in the rural environment. A recent Friends of the Earth report estimated bees are worth £510m a year to the  economy. However, bee numbers have been declining worldwide in recent years and conservationists claim that pesticides are a contributing factor, in particular neonicotinoids.

Largest tidal arry in the world to be built in Scotland
Wired has a report on the progress of tidal power in Scotland - Largest tidal arry in the world to be built in Scotland .Western Scotland will see the world's largest tidal array constructed off the coast, as the first large-scale rollout of tidal energy generation.A trial with one 30m turbine, the HS1000, anchored to the ocean floor in a fast-flowing channel near the Orkney Islands, raised one megawatt of electricity -- enough to power around 500 homes. Now, Scottish Power is planning on building two farms of turbines off the Scottish coast.The project at the Sound of Islay should hopefully generate 10MW, and then the later project off Duncansby Head (the most northeasterly point of Scotland) should generate around 95MW. While individual turbines have been trialled across the world, the arrays will be the largest of their kind, with local communities having their power provided by renewable tidal sources.The turbines -- built by Andritz Hydro Hammerfest, a Norwegian firm -- represent a tricky engineering challenge. Considerations for wild plants and fish means that the blades can't move too fast, and the turbines must be located in areas where there is a reliably fast current travelling at at least 2.5m/s (such as the Sound of Islay, a narrow passage between the Scottish mainland and the island of Jura).Once a suitable location has been identified, a giant steel frame is lowered to the seabed and secured. The turbines are between 40 to 100 metres below the surface of the sea, so theoretically pose no danger to shipping. The turbines are designed to turn in both directions to generate power, giving a constant supply of electricity.Some have estimated that around ten percent of the UK's total energy needs could be met with tidal arrays -- and the long-dreamed-of Severn Barrage alone could meet five percent of UK demand if numerous engineering difficulties are overcome.
As with many renewable energy technologies, the initial costs can be prohibitive. Scottish Power estimates the cost of the turbine farm to be around £70 million.
The Intersection of Information And EnergyTechnology Review has a series of reports on the intersection of computing and the electrical grid, including this article by eSolar's Bill Gross on improving the price and performance of solar thermal power plants - a textbook example of Buck Fullers concept of "ephemeralization" - The Intersection of Information And Energy.
I believe that we will need great ingenuity to enable our planet to provide successfully for more than seven billion human beings, let alone the nine billion that will probably inhabit it by 2050, and I believe that information technology will make this ingenuity possible. Because of fluid marketplaces and an ever more globalized economy, nearly every important resource is becoming scarcer and more costly. Evidence of this is seen in the price not only of oil but also of aluminum, concrete, wood, water, rare-earth elements, and even common elements like copper. Everything is getting more expensive because billions of people are trying creatively to repackage and consume these materials. But there is one resource whose price has consistently has gone down: computation.The power, cost, and energy use involved in one unit of computation is declining at a more consistent, dependable rate than we have seen with any other commodity in human history. That declining cost curve must be tapped to lower energy prices-and I believe it will be. This will happen as people ask: To achieve my purpose (in designing whatever device or system), can I use more "atoms" or more "bits" (computation power)? The choice will have to be bits, because atoms are going up in price while bits are going down.Here are a few examples. When designing a car, one can put a bit more effort into stronger, lighter-weight materials, which will increase energy efficiency but possibly drive up cost; or one can put a lot more effort into using computational power to run simulations that optimize the use of materials. Today, computational fluid dynamics allow a designer to accurately design a new shape of car, put it in a computer wind tunnel instead of a physical one, and test 1,000,000 body designs to improve fuel mileage by significant amounts. This was never before possible for those constructing vehicles.
In solar energy, large fields of mirrors or photovoltaic panels can be optimized to be lighter, more reliable, and more power-efficient by putting a $2 microprocessor in every panel. An onboard computer that lets each panel track the sun independently replaces previous systems that used more steel, bigger gears, and bigger gearboxes-basically, more materials. As little as 10 years ago, the computing power and sensors needed to build a closed-loop, sun-tracking solar panel might have cost $2,000, or more than the panel itself, and thus the system would not have been cost effective. But with computing costs coming down by a factor of 1,000 every 15 years, all kinds of new opportunities arise to improve system design.At eSolar, one of our companies, we designed and built a utility-scale solar-thermal power plant with a huge amount of computation embedded into the field of mirrors. We reduced the size of the components, cut the installation expense, and drove the cost of the system down to nearly half what had been achieved before. This experience proved to me the feasibility of replacing atoms with bits.The price reduction curve for computing is not over-it's continuing, and each year will open up further avenues for ingenuity. That is important because our current energy resources are not at all easy to compete with. Fuels that we dig out of the ground and burn are extremely cheap. They are, in effect, the concentrated storage of millions of years of sunlight falling on Earth. Ironically, the biggest component of energy costs is the expense of moving the fuel to consumers from where it's obtained-and transportation costs are mostly fuel, too. So we are in a kind of vicious cycle. The way to break free of fossil fuels is to introduce something new to our energy equation that isn't fuel.I believe ingenuity in the form of information technology is the only variable that offers sufficient leverage. We need to replace a cheap, unsustainable form of energy with sustainable forms of energy that are equally cheap. The only way to compete with cheap fuels is to be more clever with computation; that is, to use as little of anything else as possible.

A peak oil follower despairs of his movement’s future
Platts has picked up on a blog post from TOD's Luis De Sousa, wondering what will become of the ASPO, an organisation which seems to be past peak - A peak oil follower despairs of his movement’s future.When OPEC officials meeting in Vienna are talking about "tremendous" surpluses of oil in the world, and US crude production has risen above 6 million b/d, it's tough to be a disciple to the peak oil school of the future.Ask Luis de Sousa. This Portugese member of the the Association for the Study of Peak Oil has just returned from the recent ASPO meeting , and he is not optimistic that the movement has a great deal of energy left in it.It certainly isn't for lack of belief in the ultimate imbalance between the world's ability to produce oil, and its desire to consume it, which is what is at the heart of the peak oil school of thought.De Sousa makes clear in a recent blog posting that was circulated by some other peak oil followers that he is very much still a believer.For example, looking at the European debt crisis, he sees energy as having played a role: "Unfortunately, the role oil, coal and food prices had (and still have) in the economic crisis is not acknowledged by everyone, not even within ASPO. This is a terrible mistake, for it is exactly [the] way Peak Oil looks like. Getting ourselves intertwined in the debt or peak demand discourse is a self defeating path that will veer policy makers away from addressing the structural weakness of our economies. It is never too much to remind that the states today cut off from the European sovereign debt market are precisely those that were most dependent on oil before the crisis. "
So de Sousa's disullisionment is more like a parishioner at a church who sees the pews slowly emptying over time, and despairs of it ever reversing. For example, he writes: "But after 10 years of activity ASPO's message has failed to pass. Policy makers, climatologists, energy Industry, by and large are all yet to fully acknowledge the problem and its implications."Or maybe it's more from the perspective of being in Portugal, a country in some degree of economic crisis, where at this point they'd probably be happy to have a rising level of energy consumption. As De Santos writes of his country: "Energy consumption is declining to levels of 15 or 20 years back, with most mechanisms once put in place for the energy transition being rolled back one after the other. As [a] founding member of ASPO-Portugal I can only take this as failure. It was precisely to avoid this kind of scenario that I started working on Peak Oil in 2005. But here we are; the efforts of the handful of people making up our association are now largely irrelevant. The media and the politicians that once showed interest on the subject are gone, and so are we."Ironically, I just received notification of this year's ASPO-US conference. One notable change: it isn't in Washington. For a few years the gathering was mostly sited in Denver, after which the locale was switched to Washington, ostensibly to be near the seat of power. But this year it will be in Austin, the heart of academia.It's an interesting move, and de Santos seems to foreshadow something like it when he writes: "Many of us question ourselves what future ASPO can have in the present setting. It can either remain a loose scientific organisation or push a more political structure to lobby on the institutions that have the means to act. I don't think ASPO should take the latter path, but more than that, it seems that it is presently unable to do so."As far as De Sousa is concerned, he'll still continue to attend the international meetings, but he appears somewhat disillusioned: "There will be an ASPO conference in 2013, with the work for its realisation already under way. And I will probably be there too. But not any more as an avid information seeker, dreaming of saving the world, it will be just to see old friends and make new ones. After all, that was always the best about ASPO conferences."It’s on for young and old between the gas supply industry and the major gas users, with the latter continuously ratcheting up the heat.In fact, it is a three-cornered contest now because both the federal government and the Coalition have signalled that they don’t want to intervene to reserve gas supplies for domestic use while the users are enlisting heavy hitters, such as Dow Chemical’s main man, Andrew Liveris, to tell them they are wrong.In a new fusillade, the Perth-based DomGas Alliance, which started life but  now chasing its concerns nationwide, has launched a report claiming that Australia is the only country in the world allowing “international oil companies to access and export natural gas without prioritising local supply.”It sharpens its thrust by adding that Australia is also the only gas exporting country to experience shortages and sharply rising prices.In a national economic environment where, no matter how often Wayne Swan exhorts us all to be happy, there are a large number of people unconvinced that they are sharing in the creation of new wealth and where manufacturers are obviously in strife, DomGas is pressing hard to get political knees to jerk at the state and federal level.The cost-of-living button is always a good one to push in these disputes and DomGas has given it a good nudge with a claim that we are confronted with a rise of $5.3 billion in mainland state annual gas bills. (Why did they ignore poor Tassie, I wonder?)
DomGas bases this assertion on multiplying current gas demand by businesses and households with projected price rises - of $3 per gigajoule in the east and $5.50 in Western Australia.The debate about higher gas costs (and higher electricity prices flowing from the use of gas by power stations) is not new in the West. It has been ongoing for several years.However, driving this tale in to the media on the east coast is calculated to really pour on the pressure for the pollies, with a federal election looming and the big three states (in terms of consumers and consumption) all now in Coalition hands and manifestly jumpy about energy bills.
IEA:we’re on track for 6 degree warming
The Climate Spectator has a look at the latest publication emanating from the IEA - IEA:we’re on track for 6 degree warmingYou can’t get much starker a statement than the one from International Energy Agency head Maria van der Hoeven, in relation to the latest edition of the IEA’s Energy Technology Perspectives publication:"Let me be straight. Our ongoing failure to realise the full potential of clean energy technology is alarming. "Continued heavy reliance on a narrow set of technologies and fossil fuels is a significant threat to energy security, stable economic growth and global welfare, as well as to the environment."This is the fourth edition of the IEA’s Energy Technologies Perspective report, which attempts to map out what kind of transformation of our energy sector we would need to make in order to limit global warming to tolerable levels. This edition outlines a mix of technological solutions that are not all that different to what they have projected in the past:
Energy efficiency can deliver the largest, fastest and cheapest emission reductions.
 Renewables have a large role to play and will grow to be a major source of supply if we implement policy to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.
 Natural gas will be important as a complement to the variability of some renewables and provide an important lower emission substitute for coal. ...
But the particular highlight, or to be more precise, lowlight, of this report is that if governments don’t do something urgently to wean ourselves off fossil-fuels, we’ll most likely end up with global temperature rise of six degrees Celsius.According to a 2010 paper by Sherwood and Huber, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, such a temperature rise would mean significant parts of the globe would be so hot and importantly humid, that it would be beyond humans to successfully adapt. We simply can’t risk this kind of extreme temperature rise.What’s more, while avoiding this disaster would require very huge investments in energy supply and usage ($36 trillion more from today to 2050), it would deliver fuel savings that would outweigh the additional investments by $3 to $1. Even with a 10 per cent discount rate, we’d end up with a net benefit of $US5 trillion, according to the IEA.Unfortunately, the IEA says nine out of ten technologies that hold potential for major energy and CO2 emissions savings are failing to be deployed at the scale required. Hydro, biomass, onshore wind and solar photovoltaics are making sufficient progress, but several others are not. The IEA is particularly worried about slow uptake of energy efficiency, offshore wind and concentrated solar power but perhaps most of all it’s worried about the complete lack of progress for carbon capture and storage of emissions from fossil fuel combustion.

 3-D Transistors
Technology Review has a look at energy efficient advances in chip design -  3-D Transistors.
In an effort to keep squeezing more components onto silicon chips, Intel has begun mass-producing processors based on 3-D transistors. The move not only extends the life of Moore's Law (the prediction that the number of transistors per chip will double roughly every two years) but could help significantly increase the energy efficiency and speed of processors.The on-and-off flow of current in conventional chips is controlled by an electric field generated by a so-called gate that sits on top of a wide, shallow conducting channel embedded in a silicon substrate. With the 3-D transistors, that current-carrying channel has been flipped upright, rising off the surface of the chip. The channel material can thus be in contact with the gate on both its sides and its top, leaving little of the channel exposed to interference from stray charges in the substrate below. In earlier transistors, these charges interfered with the gate's ability to block current, resulting in a constant flow of leakage current.With virtually no leakage current, a transistor can switch on and off more cleanly and quickly, and it can be run at lower power, since designers don't have to worry that leakage current could be mistaken for an "on" signal.
Intel claims the new transistors can switch up to 37 percent faster than its previous transistors or consume as little as half as much power. Faster switching means faster chips. In addition, because of their smaller footprint, the transistors can be packed closer together. Signals thus take less time to travel between them, further speeding up the chip.
Crude and consate Reach new High in
Stuart at Early Warning has a post on global oil production, showing oil production has managed to reach a new high after a long plateau - Crude and consate Reach new High in Jan.
The EIA helpfully produces a breakdown of the global liquid fuel supply into components. This allows us to distinguish change in the supply of "oil" - narrowly defined as crude oil plus condensates (hydrocarbons which come out of the ground as liquid) - from changes in other things (natural gas "liquids", most of which are actually gases like ethane, propane, and butane, ethanol, and refinery volume changes.The above graph shows these four substreams - the crude and condensate (C&C) is on the right scale and the others on the left scale. This approach is designed to make it easiest to compare changes. The interesting news is that crude+ condensate, which has been pretty much plateaued since late 2005, has now made new highs. So clearly "peak monthly oil" is not behind us.At the same time, the data still seem to me to be consistent with the overall "peak oil moderate" worldview - that in 2005 we entered into a situation in which it became very difficult to raise oil production and that placed significant constraints on the global economy and made recessions more likely, but that the decline in global production will be slow and fears that this would lead to an abrupt collapse of the global economy were overblown (the "doomer" view).At the moment, the plateau in C&C has a slight upward tilt and it's not possible to say declines in global oil production have begun.
Abundance or the Earth Is Full?
TED has a contrasting pair of talks up - Paul Gilding explaining the doomer vision of the future in The Earth is full vs Peter Diamond’s' more optimistic vision, Abundance is our future.Have we used up all our resources? Have we filled up all the livable space on Earth? Paul Gilding suggests we have, and the possibility of devastating consequences, in a talk that's equal parts terrifying and, oddly, hopeful.Paul Gilding is an independent writer, activist and adviser on a sustainable economy. Click through to watch the onstage debate that followed this talk.Onstage at TED2013, Peter Diamonds’ makes a case for optimism -- that we'll invent, innovate and create ways to solve the challenges that loom over us. "I’m not saying we don’t have our set of problems; we surely do. But ultimately, we knock them down.”Peter Diamandis runs the X Prize Foundation, which offers large cash incentive prizes to inventors who can solve grand challenges like space flight, low-cost mobile medical diagnostics and oil spill cleanup. He is the chair of Singularity University, which teaches executives and grad students about exponentially growing technologies.
Ultra- Efficient Solar
Technology review has a look at Semprium's approach to high efficiency solar cells using concentrating lenses and gallium arsenide cells Ultra- Efficient Solar.This past winter, a startup called Semprius set an important record for solar energy: it showed that its solar panels can convert nearly 34 percent of the light that hits them into electricity. Semprius says its technology, once scaled up, is so efficient that in some places, it could soon make electricity cheaply enough to compete with power plants fueled by coal and natural gas. Because solar installations have many fixed costs, including real estate for the arrays of panels, it is important to maximize the efficiency of each panel in order to bring down the price of solar energy. Companies are trying a variety of ways to do that, including using materials other than silicon, the most common semiconductor in solar panels today.For example, a startup called Alta Devices (see the TR50, March/April 2012) makes flexible sheets of solar cells out of a highly efficient material called gallium arsenide. Semprius also uses gallium arsenide, which is better than silicon at turning light into electricity (the record efficiency measured in a silicon solar panel is about 23 percent). But gallium arsenide is also far more expensive, so Semprius is trying to make up for the cost in several ways.One is by shrinking its solar cells, the individual light absorbers in a solar panel, to just 600 micrometers wide, 600 micrometers long, and 10 micrometers thick. Its manufacturing process is built on research by cofounder John Rogers, a professor of chemistry and engineering at the University of Illinois, who figured out a way to grow the small cells on a gallium arsenide wafer, lift them off quickly, and then reuse the wafer to make more cells. Once the cells are laid down, Semprius maximizes their power production by putting them under glass lenses that concentrate sunlight about 1,100 times.Concentrating sunlight on solar panels is not new, but with larger silicon cells, a cooling system typically must be used to conduct away the heat that this generates. Semprius's small cells produce so little heat that they don't require cooling, which further brings down the cost. Scott Burroughs, Semprius's vice president of technology, says utilities that use its system should be able to produce electricity at around eight cents per kilowatt-hour in a few years. That's less than the U.S. average retail price for electricity, which was about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2011, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Global Solar Growth Continued Strong
Stuar at Early Warning has a look at the growth of solar power worldwide Global Solar Growth Continued Strong
That is a pretty extra-ordinary growth curve. Seeing what is already a decent sized industry ($82 billion in 2012) with a linearly increasing growth rate this high is an amazing thing.
It's not certain how long this will continue however:European markets where PV has developed vigorously in recent years have reached, at least for the time being, a level that will be difficult to maintain in the two coming years. The market slowdown in Europe will not immediately be offset by market growth elsewhere in the world, but a rebalancing has begun. New markets around the world will have to be opened up to drive PV development in the coming decade just as Europe accounted for it until now.Many existing markets - in particular China, the USA and Japan, but also India - have addressed only a very small part of their enormous potential for PV development. Moreover, several countries from large sunbelt regions like Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia and South America are on the brink of starting their development, pushed by an increasing awareness of solar PV potential. As a whole, the global PV market will grow more sustainably, driven by the competitiveness of PV solutions rather than mainly by financial support schemes. But this Paradigm Shift will not happen overnight.
Amory Lovins: A40 - year plan for energy
TED Talks has a new talk up from Amory Lovins - Amory Lovins: A40 - year plan for energy.
In this intimate talk filmed at TED's offices, energy innovator Amory Lovins shows how to get the US off oil and coal by 2050, $5 trillion cheaper, with no Act of Congress, led by business for profit. The key is integrating all four energy-using sectors-and four kinds of innovation.
Amory Lovins was worried (and writing) about energy long before global warming was making the front -- or even back -- page of newspapers. Since studying at Harvard and Oxford in the 1960s, he's written dozens of books, and initiated ambitious projects -- cofounding the influential, environment-focused Rocky Mountain Institute; prototyping the ultra-efficient Hypercar -- to focus the world's attention on alternative approaches to energy and transportation.His critical thinking has driven people around the globe -- from world leaders to the average Joe -- to think differently about energy and its role in some of our biggest problems: climate change, oil dependency, national security, economic health, and depletion of natural resources.Lovins offers solutions as well. His new book and site, Reinventing Fire, offers actionable solutions for four energy-intensive sectors of the economy: transportation, buildings, industry and electricity. Lovins has always focused on solutions that conserve natural resources while also promoting economic growth; Texas Instruments and Wal-Mart are just two of the mega-corporations he has advised on improving energy efficiency.
The New York Review Of Book has an article by William Nordhaus on global warming - Why the Global warming Skeptics Are Wrong.
The threat of climate change is an increasingly important environmental issue for the globe. Because the economic questions involved have received relatively little attention, I have been writing a nontechnical book for people who would like to see how market-based approaches could be used to formulate policy on climate change. When I showed an early draft to colleagues, their response was that I had left out the arguments of skeptics about climate change, and I accordingly addressed this at length.But one of the difficulties I found in examining the views of climate skeptics is that they are scattered widely in blogs, talks, and pamphlets. Then, I saw an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal of January 27, 2012, by a group of sixteen scientists, entitled “No Need to Panic About Global Warming.” This is useful because it contains many of the standard criticisms in a succinct statement. The basic message of the article is that the globe is not warming, that dissident voices are being suppressed, and that delaying policies to slow climate change for fifty years will have no serious economic or environment consequences.
My response is primarily designed to correct their misleading description of my own research; but it also is directed more broadly at their attempt to discredit scientists and scientific research on climate change.1 I have identified six key issues that are raised in the article, and I provide commentary about their substance and accuracy. They are:
• Is the planet in fact warming?
• Are human influences an important contributor to warming?
• Is carbon dioxide a pollutant?
• Are we seeing a regime of fear for skeptical climate scientists?
• Are the views of mainstream climate scientists driven primarily by the desire for financial gain?
• Is it true that more carbon dioxide and additional warming will be beneficial?
As I will indicate below, on each of these questions, the sixteen scientists provide incorrect or misleading answers. At a time when we need to clarify public confusions about the science and economics of climate change, they have muddied the waters. I will describe their mistakes and explain the findings of current climate science and economics. ...
Shale Gas: The View from Russia
While I wouldn't view Dmitri Orlov or Gazprom as unbiased observers of the global gas industry, this post at Club Orlov is quite thought provoking - Shale Gas: The View from Russia.The official shale gas story goes something like this: recent technological breakthroughs by US energy companies have made it possible to tap an abundant but previously inaccessible source of clean, environmentally friendly natural gas. This has enabled the US to become the world leader in natural gas production, overtaking Russia, and getting ready to end of Russia's gas monopoly in Europe. Moreover, this new shale gas is found in many parts of the world, and will, in due course, enable the majority of the world's countries to achieve independence from traditional gas producers. Consequently, the ability of those countries with the largest natural gas reserves-Russia and Iran-to control the market for natural gas will be reduced, along with their overall geopolitical influence.If this were the case, then we should expect the Kremlin, along with Gazprom, to be quaking in their boots. But are they?
Here is what Gazprom's chairman, Alexei Miller, recently told Süddeutsche Zeitung: “Shale gas is a well-organized global PR-campaign. There are many of them: global cooling, biofuels.” He pointed out that the technology for producing gas from shale is many decades old, and suggested the US turned to it out of desperation. He dismissed it as an energy alternative for Europe. Is this just the other's sides propaganda, or could Miller be simply stating the obvious? Let's explore. I will base my exploration on Russian sources, which is why all the numbers are in metric units. If you want to convert to Imperial, 1 m3 = 35 cubic feet, 1 km2 = .38 square miles, 1 tonne = 1.1 short tons).The best-developed shale gas basin is Barnett in Texas, responsible for 70% of all shale gas produced to date. By “developed” I mean drilled and drilled and drilled, and then drilled some more: just in 2006 there were about as many wells drilled into Barnett shale as are currently producing in all of Russia. This is because the average Barnett well yields only around 6.35 million m3 of gas, over its entire lifetime, which corresponds to the average monthly yield of a typical Russian well that continues to produce over a 15-20 year period, meaning that the yield of a typical shale gas well is at least 200 times smaller. This hectic activity cannot stop once a well has been drilled: in order to continue yielding even these meager quantities, the wells have to be regularly subjected to hydraulic fracturing, or "fracked": to produce each thousand m3 of gas, 100 kg of sand and 2 tonnes of water, combined with a proprietary chemical cocktail, have to be pumped into the well at high pressure. Half the water comes back up and has to be processed to remove the chemicals. Yearly fracking requirements for the Barnett basin run around 7.1 million tonnes of sand and 47.2 million tonnes of water, but the real numbers are probably lower, as many wells spend much of the time standing idle.In spite of the frantic drilling/fracking activity, this is all small potatoes by Russian standards. Russia's proven reserves of natural gas amount to 43.3 trillion m3, which is about a third of the world's total. At current consumption rates, that's enough to last 72 years. Russian gas production is constrained by demand, not by supply; it is currently down simply because Eurozone is in the midst of an economic crisis. Meanwhile, US production has surged ahead, for no adequately explored reason, crashing the price and making much of it unprofitable.Let's compare: Gazprom's price at the wellhead runs from US$3 to $50 per thousand m3, depending on the region. Compare that to shale gas in the US, which runs from $80 to $320 per thousand m3. At this price, the US cannot afford to sell shale gas on the European market. Moreover, the overall volume of shale gas being produced in the US, even given the feverish drilling rate of the past couple of years, if cleaned up, liquified, and shipped to Europe in LNG tankers, would not be enough to book up just the LNG terminal in GdaÅ„sk, Poland, which is currently standing idle. It seems that Gazprom has little to worry about.
The US, on the other hand, does have plenty to worry about. There has been much talk already about groundwater pollution and other forms of environmental destruction that accompanies the production of shale gas, so I will not address these here. Instead, I will focus on two aspects that are just as important but have received scarcely any attention.First, what is shale gas? Ask this question, and you will be told: “Shut up, it's methane.” But is it really? The composition of shale gas is something of a state secret in the US, but information about the gas produced from the nine Polish shale gas test projects did leak out, and it's not pretty: Polish shale gas turned out to be so high in nitrogen that it does not even burn. Technology exists to clean up gas that is, say, 6% nitrogen, but Polish shale gas is closer to 50% nitrogen, and, given high production costs, low yields, rapid depletion and low wellhead pressure, cleaning it up to bring it up to spec (which is 1% nitrogen) would most likely result in a net waste of energy.Even if shale gas is low enough in nitrogen to burn, the problems do not end there. It may also contain hydrogen sulfide, which is toxic and corrosive and has to be removed before the gas can be stored or injected into a pipeline. It probably contains toluene and other organic solvents-ingredients in the fracking cocktails-which are carcinogenic. Lastly, it may be radioactive. All clays are mildly radioactive, and shale is a sort of heat-treated clay. While Barnett shale is not particularly radioactive, Marcellus shale, which has recently been the focus of frantic drilling activity, is. Thanks to Marcellus shale gas, radioactive radon gas is being delivered directly to your kitchen, via the burners of your stove, or to a power plant smokestack upwind from where you live. This is expected to result in increased lung cancer rates in the coming years.Second, why is shale gas being produced at all? Natural gas prices have fallen through the roof, and are currently around $2 per thousand cubic feet. This works out to around $70 per thousand m3. If shale gas costs from $80 to $320 per thousand m3 to produce, it is unclear how one might make any money with it.But perhaps making money with it is not the point. What if shale gas is just a PR campaign (with horrific environmental side effects)? Going back to what Alexei Miller said, what if the entire point of the exercise was to increase the capitalization of shale gas exploration and production companies? The number one company in shale gas is Chesapeake Energy, the owner of the Barnett basin and a major player in the Marcellus basin. This company almost went bankrupt in 2009, but then managed to claw its way back to profitability in 2010 and 2011 by drilling, and drilling, and drilling, and then drilling some more. Sixty percent of their revenue is from drilling operations. And now there is a scandal involving Chesapeake Energy's (former?) chairman, Aubrey K. McClendon, who apparently awarded himself a stake in each well his company drilled, used them as collateral for billions in loans, and used the loans to bet that natural gas prices will go up (they haven't). In the meantime, natural gas drilling rig count has dropped to a ten-year low. Given that shale gas wells deplete very quickly, it looks like the shale gas boom is over.But now that it's over, what was it, exactly? It appears to have been something like the dot-com bubble: companies with no conceivable way of turning a profit using hype to attract investment and drive up their valuations. Since 2008, various kinds of hype-based market manipulations have become the staple of economic life in the US, and so this is nothing new or different.One interesting question is, What sort of bubble will the US attempt to blow next, if any? There is the Facebook IPO coming up. Facebook is a ridiculous time-waster and, as such, seems a bit overpriced. Are we going to attempt blowing up another dot-com bubble? Another round of subprime mortgages does not seem to be in the works. What's a bubble boy to do? If there are no more bubbles to blow, then it's back to just plain printing money.So this whole shale gas thing didn't work out as planned, did it? But could it have? Had it turned out to be much better in every way, could it have swung geopolitical influence away from Russia and Iran and back toward the US? Alas, no.You see, there is no such thing as a global natural gas market. Yes, there are some LNG tankers sailing about, but that is very much a point-to-point trade. There is a closed North American market, a European market, and another market in the Asia-Pacific region. These markets do not interact. The North American market and the European market could have potentially shared just one producer: Qatar. Qatar once wanted to export LNG to the US, but then decided to export it to Europe instead, generating less of a loss, because European gas prices are substantially higher. And the reason Qatar is dumping natural gas in Europe is because it has gas to dump: its northern gas field is a very “wet” field, with a substantial percentage of natural gas condensate. Qatar's OPEC quota is 36-37 million tonnes of oil per year, but natural gas condensate is not considered to be oil and is not covered by OPEC quotas. Exploiting the condensate loophole allows Qatar to export 65.7 million tonnes: 77% over quota. The LNG is just concomitant production, and Qatar can afford to export LNG to Europe at a loss. This is a juicy bit of trivia, but really something of a footnote: an exception that proves the general case: there is no global natural gas market.
This year's episode was as good as any, featuring some nifty urban skiing in Canada and some Nepalese guys paragliding down from the top of Mt Everest.
The two standout films from my point of view were "Kadoma", looking at some kayakers taking on first the White Nile then the Congo river, and "Sketchy Andy", highlighting the amazing skills and lunatic stunts of "professional slackliner" Andy Lewis.The Economist has one of their occasional looks at peak oil theory -Feeling peaky:The economic impact of high oil prices.AS THE developed-world economy tries to gain momentum, it faces a persistent headwind. The oil price remains stubbornly over $100 a barrel, acting like a tax on Western consumers. Some blame the high price on evil speculators-Barack Obama unveiled plans to increase penalties for market manipulation on April 17th. But there is a simpler explanation: that supply is inadequate to keep up with rising demand.The concept of peak oil-the idea that global crude production may be at, or close to, its limit-is far from universally accepted. One leading asset manager talked recently of the world being “awash with energy” because of the exploitation of American shale gas. Nevertheless, oil is still the main fuel for cars and trucks. And crude output (as opposed to alternatives such as biofuels and liquids made from gas) has been flat since 2005.
A number of countries (including Britain, Egypt and Indonesia) have turned from net oil exporters into importers in recent years. And although rich countries have curbed their energy-guzzling a little, demand continues to surge in emerging markets.This has left the oil market very vulnerable to temporary supply disruptions, such as the war in Libya. Speaking at a conference in Dublin this week, organised by the Institute of International and European Affairs and the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas, Chris Skrebowski, a consulting editor of Petroleum Review, argued that spare capacity in the oil market could be eroded by 2020.The peak-oil concept was devised by the late M. King Hubbert, who correctly predicted in 1956 that oil output in the lower 48 states of America would peak by around 1970. At the conference Michael Kumhof, an economist at the International Monetary Fund, presented the findings of a forthcoming working paper which showed that adding the idea of a “Hubbert peak” to energy production greatly improved the ability of a model to forecast oil prices. Based on an expected 0.9% annual increase in production over the next decade, the model predicts that real oil prices will nearly double over the same period.The economic damage caused by such a rise is predicted to be modest, perhaps 0.2% of global GDP a year. In the past changes in oil prices have had a limited long-term impact, since any losses to oil importers are matched by gains by oil exporters. To the extent that high oil prices played a role in the recessions of the early 1980s and 2008-09, the main reason is that oil-producing countries tend to have a lower marginal propensity to consume their income, denting global demand.Nevertheless worries that if oil prices are high enough, the economic impact might increase substantially. On the most extreme assumptions, it could be 2% a year.Even if the world can find more oil-in the Arctic or tar sands, say-the longer-term question is whether the era of “cheap energy” is over and how the world can adjust if it is. Developed economies are built on easy access to cheap energy, importing goods that are transported from around the world, with consumers driving many miles to work in air-conditioned offices and then flying off to sunny climes for their annual holidays. Persistently high oil prices would clearly lead to substitution (electric cars, natural-gas-powered trucks) but the transition costs could be significant.Furthermore some potential substitutes for, or new sources of, oil (such as biofuels and tar sands) are a lot less efficient, in the sense that they require significant amounts of energy simply to produce. To the extent that this equation (energy return on energy invested, or EROI) is deteriorating, that must surely have an effect on economic growth.

Are the lights still on in South Australia?
The Climate Spectator has a look at the increasing role of wind power in South Australia - Are the lights still on in South Australia Yesterday, I called a friend of mine in Adelaide. Beyond the usual niceties to start the call my first question was: ‘is the power out?’ Perplexed, he answered in the negative, no doubt wondering whether I had control of my faculties.It was a strange first question to come from a friend you haven’t spoken to for a month, after all. Especially from an avid Richmond supporter after the team’s biggest win in years. But I was concerned for the state of South Australia after receiving some interesting news during the day - wind now makes up 31 per cent of the state’s power supply, with solar PV accounting for another 3.5 per cent.According to a leading energy advisory firm (Energy Quest), wind already “appears to be the new baseload.” Not bad in spite of the campaign against wind by they-who-shall-not-be-named. But while green groups were likely dancing in the streets, I was worried the lights in those streets might have gone out. I have been told for years that wind and solar are not capable of supplying power consistently enough to power one house, yet alone be able to supply a third of the energy needs for an entire state.It appears to be all a Y2K-like false alarm however, with everything operating as normal. ...
Not only are wind and solar playing increasingly significant roles in the power grid, but they are also helping to make wholesale electricity prices cheaper. In the March quarter, wholesale electricity prices were between 30 and 60 per cent cheaper in the eastern states compared to a year ago. Energy Quest said the reasons for the wholesale price falls were “lower demand for grid power and the growth of wind and solar. “South Australian wholesale prices fell 50 per cent, while the country’s most heavily reliant coal state, Victoria, only realized a price fall of 31 per cent. Average wholesale prices in Victoria, the only eastern state to have coal increase its output for the quarter, fell to $24.53/MWh from $35.50/MWh. South Australian prices fell to $26.17/MWh from $51.82/MWh. The gap is closing rapidly. Obviously the switch to a sustainable energy future is a gradual one to be made over decades, not in the next year or two. But the progress with renewable energy in South Australia is promising and shows that with a friendly policy environment - for example, no 2km wind farm exclusion zones - great strides can be made..

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