What I am trying to do here

This blog contains facts and information about Renewable Energy,Global Warming and some other items that interest me. Currently,there are a large number of posts which are left unpopulated or partially populated. I'll backfill them and continue to add info as I come across it.

This is a virtual notebook where I can place information in an organized manner. Hopefully, this will help me retain (or at least let me know where to find) info that I would otherwise forget and lose. This blog will look more like a website than a blog.

Some sources for my blog info is from http://www.treehugger.com/ and http://www.peakoil.com/websites as well books such as The Plot to Save the World.

I also plan to keep some notes on other things growing vegtables and flowers, watercoloring, living simply and frugally, cooking, Nashua, Books, Music and personal projects. However, the main emphasis will be on renewable energy.I'm doing this mainly for myself but perhaps you may find things of interest here.

100 things to be optimistic about

(Don't let the date on this post fool you I am constantly adding to it)

This posting will be a collection of things that could prove interesting in improving our world. A fraction of these will in time make major improvements.


1) Solar- Heat Recovery-Refrigeration-Stirling Engine-Heat Engine

- JTEC- Johnson Thermo-electromechanical Energy Conversion System, It will convert heat to electricity at rates reaching just under 40 percent of the maximum theoretical efficiency available in an engine operating between two temperatures -- the Carnot efficiency.

2)New Biomass Feedstocks-Ethanol-

Camelina is a low input energy crop that could be grown in the US to produce Oil. 100 gallon/acre yield. grow on poor soils,drought resistant, partial season crop, possible byproducts.

3)New Drilling technology for GeoThermal Wells
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/05/potter-20090521.html#more

4)NanoAntennas -Harvesting the full spectrum of the Sun's Rays
http://alfin2100.blogspot.com/2008/01/revolutionary-unique-solar-energy-nano.html

5)Capturing kinetic energy from cars
http://www.newenergytechnologiesinc.com/technology.html

6)Substainability :growing trees in the desert
http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_releases/waterboxx_grows_forests_desert

7) Venter harvests 20 million new genes to find bug that turns coal to methane
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6590538.ece

8 Low grade Coal (lignite) to Gas? Is it real and desirable?

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columnists/rmiller/stories/DN-miller_28bus.ART.State.Edition1.3cf764e

9) Hydrogenization of CO2 (using it as a possible feedstock through Fischer-Tropp)

http://newenergyandfuel.com/http:/newenergyandfuel/com/2009/07/01/does-hydrogenation-of-co2-have-a-future/

10)CO2 to Methanol

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/07/nazimek-20090707.html#more

11) Bugs that create Methane from Coal

http://greenlight.greentechmedia.com/2008/12/23/coal-to-methane-via-bacteria-company-gets-759-million-913/

12) Infrared Light into Electricity :using a wider spectrum

http://www.jxcrystals.com/ThermoPV.htm

13) Spectrolab Solar reaches 40% with mirrors

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/04/stateoftheart_m.php

14)Toshiba smaller nuclear
http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Toshiba

15) Amtec -solid state heat engine
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3864/is_200009/ai_n8926045/?tag=content;col1

http://www.memagazine.org/contents/current/archive/alkali.html
http://peswiki.com/index.php/PowerPedia:Atomic_Battery

16) Urine Fuel

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ET-Cetera/Forget-gas-Now-pee-being-tapped-as-fuel/articleshow/4794915.cms

http://www.zerofuel.org/

17)Lithium Air Batteries (increased energy density)

http://www.greentechmedia.com/green-light/post/revolt-basf-ink-zinc-air-battery-development-deal/

18) One Step Cellusoic sludge to Ethanol


http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/energy/23892/

19) One Step Algae to Ethanol

20) Miscanthus Research

http://miscanthus.illinois.edu/

21) Improved Heat carriers for Geothermal


http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23065/page1/

22) Organic Fuel cells

http://www.physorg.com/news168018281.html

23) Desalinization Energy Plant

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/desalination-can-the-technology-go-elsewhere/

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/energy-from-sea-water-consider-ibm-intrigued/



24) Factor of 50 energy savings membrane for seperation

http://nextbigfuture.com/2009/07/new-zeolite-membranes-increase-energy.html

25)Electric Cream ??
http://allafrica.com/stories/200907311073.html

26) Cansolarhttp://www.examiner.com/x-4002-Milwaukee-Green-Living-Examiner~y2009m4d22-Beer-can-solar-heater-provides-free-heat

27) Artifical Photosynthesis
http://palscience.com/2009/03/11/turning-sunlight-into-liquid-fuel/

28)Zeolites - Low energy seperation of Biofuels

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/07/tsapatsis-20090731.html

29) Micro hydro- canals slow moving

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/get-ready-for-ditch-power/

30)Desalinization Pressure Drop Energy
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/desalination-can-the-technology-go-elsewhere/

31)Diesel-Gas in same engine 20 %improvement
http://newenergyandfuel.com/http:/newenergyandfuel/com/2009/08/07/a-breakthrough-for-internal-combustion-engines/

32)New Energy Technologies

http://newenergyandfuel.com/http:/newenergyandfuel/com/2009/08/26/a-new-5-stroke-internal-combustion-engine/

http://newenergyandfuel.com/http:/newenergyandfuel/com/2007/11/19/a-physicist-offers-an-engine-design-for-over-100-mpg/

http://www.sandersonengine.com/html/the_engine_of_the_future.html

33)A variant on Salt-Freshwater Energy
http://www.physorg.com/news171102611.html

34)Sewerage Energy
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/can-sewage-save-the-world/

35 Vincent Carman
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/05/prototype_vince.php

36 electric motor improvements
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/yasa-motors-advanced-electric-motor-more-powerful-efficient.php
http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2009/100909.html


37 ultracapicator- battery combo

http://newenergyandfuel.com/http:/newenergyandfuel/com/2009/09/09/making-the-most-of-your-energy-density/

38) Joule Biotech (organism that is not algae)

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=joule-biotechnologies-announce-new-2009-07-27

http://www.technologyreview.com/business/23073/

Optimism

I'm optimistic the combined energy of research,technology, discussion, political action that are occuring we will get some positive results in obtaining new sources of energy and reduce global warming.

I am optomistic about this due to;

1) Large amount of individuals, university research labs, entreprenuers and companies that are working on this problem. Market forces help driving this.

2) In general, the world and the US do recognize this as an important issue

3) There are a number of technologies that are now new or are improved:

a) massive computing resources allow us to do modeling

b) better understanding allowing us to do biomimicing of breaking down materials to fuel, creating photosynthesism, reducing wind drag in transportation

c) biotechnology

d) improvements in battery technology

To see what the scientists and thought leaders of the Edge collaborative website are optomistic about click on the picture at the top of the page.

The Big Picture

Notes on World Usage Notes on World Supply Notes on World Demand Notes on US Usage 140 billion gallons of gasoline consumed in the US each year And our global appetite for petroleum continues to grow. In the United States alone, we consume nearly 40 quadrillion BTUs every year. (That’s 15 zeroes – a billion million.) The costs are astronomical: We spend over $200 billion on foreign oil every year. Notes on US Supply Notes on US Demand Ninety seven percent of the fuel used in U.S. transportation is petroleum-based, and two-thirds of our oil is imported. Much the largest source of renewable energy is hydroelectric power, which provides 17% of world electricity (and 6% of world energy), about the same as nuclear power; both are CO2-free. All the other renewables - wind, wave, tidal, solar, biomass (which are either CO2-free or CO-neutral) - hardly feature in the statistics at the present time.
Revia and Depade

A one megawatt plant can supply up to 1,000 homes with power).

Industry in the United States accounts for one-fourth of the world's manufacturing output, employs 14 million people and at 12 percent of the gross domestic product makes the highest contribution to the economy of any sector," Blue said.
While the U.S. industrial sector supplies over 60 percent of the nation's exports worth $50 billion/month, the challenge is to reduce the amount of energy - 32 quads, which is about one-third of the total energy consumed in the nation. One quad is equal to 1 quadrillion British thermal units, an amount of energy equal to 170 million barrels of oil.

CHARLIE ROSE: You’ve also said that we can get — have energy independence in 10 years
if we’re willing to go spend $180 billion?
AMORY LOVINS: I didn’t say in 10 years, but if we spent $180 billion getting off oil, half of
it to retool the car, truck and plane industries for tripled efficiency, and half to build a
modern bio-fuels industry, then that $180 billion investment by 2025 would return net $70

about milatary

AMORY LOVINS: And, of course, it’s a very teachable moment right now, because they
spend about half their money and a third of their people moving stuff around. That’s called
logistics.
CHARLIE ROSE: Right. Right.
AMORY LOVINS: 70 percent of the tonnage they move is fuel.


http://cohesion.rice.edu/NaturalSciences/Smalley/emplibrary/120204%20MRS%20Boston.pdf

a

Iraq War

sold as self financing by oil, it is not. Oil Saboteurs can't be stopped.

40% of Iraq's middle class left Iraq. Black market Oil finances the terrorist.

4000 American dead 10's of thousands wounded. Cost of war may end up about 2 trillion dollars 5 X Saudi Arabia's GNP.

the Abqaiq facilites process 7 million barrells -8% of worlds output. attacked a number of times

American Energy Indepence

Robert Bryce "gusher of Lies" says it can't happen. We need to prepare for interdependence.

US bought Crude from 41 different countries, jet fuel from 26 and gas from 46. We import electricity from Mexico and Canada. We import 60 % of oil needs and 80% of computer chips.

Energy use goes hand in hand with prosperity

4 Issues:
Iraq
Infrastructure attacks and Osama Bin Laden
Peak Oil
Climate Change

American Oil industry has shortage of trained engineers and workers. Only 15% are in their mid 20-30's. Shortage of Welders.

Oil is a global business. BP produces more oil in US than any other.