Wednesday, November 30, 2011
LED lights
Technology of LED lights is characterized by leveraging a diode, semiconductor, item conditions i.e., one that can behave as a conductor of electricity, or simply as an insulating the same passage in different circumstances (inferred from an incident, radiation up to a given temperature).
The LED designation means Light-Emitting Diode (in English, light-emitting diode) and evidence that a diode is used to generate an effect of luminescence with the encouragement of an electric current by emitting light at a wavelength of reduced spectrum.
This luminous colors are directly dependent on the material that has been manufactured LED, those who are in the range of the visible spectrum, although there are also LED with capacity to emit a light UV (ultraviolet), or those that emit infrared light, also known as IRED (Infra Red Emitting Diode, infrared emission diode) to be used
The latter have been extremely popular and quite used something Homestyle, and many will have probably noticed: are located on the remote control, and are responsible for that work correctly, with a sink in the appropriate device.
They are present in TVs, air conditioning and even attended mobile phones with the IRDA port data, now replaced by Bluetooth, senior benefits technology.
The white light LED development has allowed that they replace light bulbs progressively taking first greater acceptance in the world of cars, including where applicable with varied designs, providing a striking touch.
In the case of the LED screens, used both monitors and TVs, which are used are an enormous amount of LED lights color Green, red and blue, to provide a higher quality image with a high level of contrast, also offer a much higher resistance to shock and vibration.
View the original article here
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Machines hybrid
So many times I have talked about hybrid cars.. Since holes bring to a story on hybrid machines. It's a solution very beneficial for the heavy machinery - which has a high level of consumption of fossil fuels-applying similar technology the of other hybrid vehicles, with results of up to 50% of energy savings.
Researchers of Aalto University in Finland have experimented with internal combustion machines , turning them into hybrid vehicles by the addition of electric power transmission systems. They started from the basis that these machines - for the same work - produce an important power generation: either in the slowdown, or activities such as drilling, for example.
Then what they did was ensure that the energy generated by these activities is stored in a battery connected to the own vehicle. This stored energy is later used for the operation of the vehicle, reducing fuel use up to 50%. Also, unused stored energy can be transferred to the network and have an alternative use.
Source and image: ecofriend
View the original article here
Monday, November 28, 2011
LifeBook Leaf laptop with solar energy
It's the portable lifebook leaf, which uses a quite practical design, equipped with a touch screen OLED that can be used in Tablet PC mode or as if it were a Laptop (a concept which is being worked too much today)
In terms of connectivity, it would employ a support for 4 G networks, and would include a small panel OLED for basic functions, and notify the arrival of a new message when the computer is closed, or while it is recharging.
But the important thing about this team is that in all its casing is a photovoltaic solar panel that will allow recharging your batteries during its use as when is just in hibernation mode, expanding their autonomy to a previously unattainable level.
The application of clean energy and technology continues its evolutionary course, with concepts and prototypes of the most innovative.
View the original article here
Sunday, November 27, 2011
O2 Pursuit
The news that has come the web in recent days is the presentation of the o2 pursuit, motorcycle using the same principles as these weapons using a carafe of compressed air for a small engine this motorcycle.
Does not have great autonomy, and it is mostly intended to be a vehicle that moved us from work to home, although it is not to belittle the idea of using compressed air on a motorcycle in recent times where seeks to implement clean energy regarding mobility.
The engine has been designed by signing EngineAir, from Melbourne, and whose model carries the designation Di pietro air engine, with the aforementioned container of easy removal for recharging, have the advantage of having a low weight, compared to an internal combustion engine that affects not only the maneuverability, but to adapt the bike to all types of terrain.
At the moment is not more than a prototype that will form the basis for a more developed model and that could well be part of roads in the morning, if the idea is feasible and is accompanied by a sustainable platform.
View the original article here
Knob filter
There are filters that use mechanical principles, derived from the physical chemistry, others that Act separating substances by chemical reactions, the so-called Activated carbon which uses a micro-porous rock of carbon and others that simply used a combination of systems, although they often go online in a way parallel to the tap, and not direct.
That is why he considers as the filter for taps as a group apart, because that is a kind of cartridge that is inserted as a mouthpiece in the same or parallel to its mouth, using the previously mentioned and with varied technologies systems to carry drinking water to the highest possible quality.
The purpose of it depends on the type of filter that is used, so there are various costs and features, always thinking of versatility with its quick and easy disconnection also helps a lot when it comes to the maintenance and replacement.
View the original article here
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Biodiesel for your Car! Save Gas Costs with this alternative fuel!
Keep Mother Nature Clean From Air Pollution!"
"The Ultimate Crash Course To Creating Biodiesel Quickly and Easily... from home!"
Friday, November 25, 2011
Battery Reconditioning - Do you Promote Solar and Wind Energy?
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Thursday, November 24, 2011
Hydrogen from ethanol and solar energy
One of forms of energy more development is having in recent times is the energy of the hydrogen, applied mostly in the field of cars and other vehicles, and using concepts from other clean energy, as it is photosynthesis, which has been popularized in the field of thesolar.
On this occasion, we have encountered with a technological breakthrough that was driven by students of the University of Catalonia, in conjunction with other researchers of the University of Aberdeen (Scotland) and the University of Auckland (New Zealand) which seeks to harness this energy source more efficiently.
To get electricity through this raw, it is a huge amount of energy required (to produce the chemical reaction) and so they have resorted to the solar energy as a means of obtaining it, mixing it with a Photocatalyst.
This product is placed in a container of titanium dioxide (semi-conductor materials) together with an unknown quantity ofethanol, being stimulated radiation of ultraviolet light (sunlight filtered) which begins to stimulate the mixture to produce hydrogen, which are later captured by nanoparticles of gold ions.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
LEDs used to cure babies with jaundice
Much we talked about in Erenovable the advantages of lights LEDs. Light emitting diode not only consume less energy, emit more light than the compact fluorescent lamps without using mercury. But not only that: the LEDs are also used to help the babies that are born jaundice, a serious disease that can lead to brain damage and death if it is not properly.
A device called D-rev brilliance that is used to apply phototherapy with blue light, was used for the first time in a unit of neonatal intensive care in ogbomoso, Nigeria. The baby had been diagnosed with severe jaundice and needed a blood transfusion to prevent brain damage or death. But due to the low weight of the baby at birth we opted for the phototherapytreatment. After a night in an incubator under Brilliance began the recovery without the need for transfusion.
D-rev, the company of California makes that device Brilliance is working to bring this technology - as indeed in much cheaper than other devices in phototherapy- communities with extreme requirements in various developing countries, to enable the processing of the jaundice. This condition - if it detected in time - can be treated with 2-3 just days after the blue light in the baby's skin.
Source and image: treehugger.com
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Network load for cars in Houston
Getting ready for what comes, in many cities that will load jobs, offering not only a parking but a connection to the electricity grid to recharge the batteries of our car, supplanting soon to what will be the service stations are dropping.
In the American metropolis of Houston was recently released network evGo, which offers various forms of subscription to have our private cargo network, under the command of the native New Jersey NRG Energy, company and one of the pioneers in the genre.
Initial services offered are:
$50 per month, a private cargo station $90 per month, access to a network of 50 stations, located in chains like Best Buy or Walgreens.
Future plans include more points of recharge, taking as a priority its installation in New York and Dallas.
View the original article here
Monday, November 21, 2011
Rechargeable batteries with spring
To solve two problems in one is that this auto-recargable battery, which can be extended almost eternal shaped autonomy of our devices, inspired by the operation of ancient clocks to rope that they decorate and adorn the walls of the houses has been presented with Japanese designers or some toys that using similar mechanism obtained their mobility (cars to friction, for example)
Its interior contains a spiral spring connecting to a mini-generador that begins to rotate generating energy to recharge the Nickel hydride metallic, material found in a lot of batteries and have the necessary electrical energy that our devices continue to function.
To sum up its operation, simply we must turn its mechanism in a time shift in order to compress the spring, which will launch its mechanism of clock which in turn starts to operate your generator.
the original article here
Recycling of plastic bags
They plastic bags are composed of a material thermoplastic, i.e., a material that is capable of being repeatedly ablandado by applying heat and then hardens to cool down. Therefore it can be recycled.
Let's see what happens with plastic bags since we left them in the containers for recycling:
First, separate the bags of other types of plastics that will follow a different process. Then usually do a quality control of the material. A check of the material is also performed to see if it is contaminated with waste from food. In that case derived you in first step to a "cleaning process".
The next step is to melt the plastic. The softened plastic is forced through an extruder. What would this be? then something similar to what happens in mass games for children, that they pass through a kind of "sieve" and then leave as if it were spaghetti. Then gives way to the plastic before being cut with a blade. The final result obtained generally are a few small pieces or balls of plastic, which are then used in the manufacture of other plastic products.
Something important to take into account is the basic rule of the "3 R", according to her, recycling is only a part of the solution. What is crucial is to reduce and Recycle.
When we talk about reducing the idea is to avoid as much as possible, the use, delivery, or the purchase of these bags. Some practical suggestions so that we can lower the amount of plastic bags:
Search for other types of bags or equivalents that are not disposable. For example, bags of cloth or rope, baskets, baskets or boxes.
If you have a plastic bag her not tire after the first use. Use this as many times as possible. For example, use them to store food, for storing clothing or other objects. Once broken bag (in fact not often resist much) make sure that it will not dump, and instead leave it in the container for plastic recycling.
Something important to keep in mind is that there are two different types of plastic bags, according to the type of material of which they are composed: 1. HDPE plastic bags - high density polyethylene. They are the thinner bags. These bags are in most cases aptar for recycling.
2. plastic LDPE bags - low-density polyethylene. They are thicker bags, which are usually not suitable for recycling.
Another good alternative is to use bags of plastic biodegradable.
View the original article here
Sunday, November 20, 2011
The Top 2 Renewable Alternative Energy Sources
Alternative energy sources include the use of renewable energy which goes a long way to helping to reduce the number of toxins. Toxins will always be present as they are the by-product of energy consumptions but, there are ways to greatly reduce the concentration of these toxins.
The great thing about renewable alternative energy sources is that we find them abundantly in nature and their conversion into energy typically has little negative impact on the environment. None of them are perfect and certainly their use in and of themselves does involve some waste generation. The creation of toxins however, is non-existent.
What a great alternative energy source these are because their use also preserves the natural resources for other people to use again as sources of energy.
Here are the top 2 popular renewable energy sources.
Solar Energy
The sun will last billion of more years and our ability to gather its energy into solar cells provides us with an unlimited source of readily available energy. The sun's heat is converted into electricity without the use of burning carbon-based fuel such as oil and coal. Large solar farms have many solar thermal panels that follow the sun. Other energy gathering devices include parabolic mirrors. Both these techniques gather the heat and convert to power that heats air or water. The heating of water is used to produce steam which then provides the heat or drives generators for electricity.
Many buildings in cooler climates have adapted their heating systems to take advantage of window exposures to heat and cool the buildings. At first the windows were fitted with solar shades to help keep the room temperature steady as the sun would instantly overheat a room. Now these solar shades have been adapted to collect the heat and turn it into usable energy throughout the building.
The unfortunate side of solar energy is the limitation to daytime operations and times when it is not raining or excessively cloudy.
Wind Energy
Becoming more popular recently is the tactic to harness wind for energy. This type of power generation goes back to before the 15th century when ships and windmills used the wind to produce energy. The biggest drawback was the inefficiency of converting this type of alternative energy. Like solar power the use of this energy source also was entirely dependent on Mother Nature.
The use of windmills throughout history is well documented and they used wind energy to enable the mechanical machinery to perform labor intensive activities. These activities included pumping of water from wells and crushing grains for food production. Modern windmills have boosted the efficiency of the older model from the addition of a wind turbine. The wind still turns the blades which now create energy through the turbine to produce electricity. It is this electrical generator that now powers the mechanical machinery to perform the tasks.
As with solar energy large scale wind farms have been built in strategic locations to convert wind currents into clean alternative energy. These wind farms concentrate the energy into large generators that distribute the electricity through the national power grids. Smaller scale wind farms in rural areas may use the energy generated from smaller turbines for local use on the farm or small community.
While many proponents claim wind power generation has no pollution by-products and is not harmful, the full understanding of the impact on wildlife from the ultrasonic pulses generated from larger wind farms is not fully known. Wind mills do pose a documented danger to the bird population. It is, however, a renewable alternative energy source of which that we will never run out.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
The ecological footprint
The ecological footprint is expressed as the surface needed to produce the resources consumed by an average of a certain human community citizen, as well as the necessary to absorb the waste generated, regardless of the location of these areas.We exploit the fields, forests, the sea... without leaving a space of time so you can regenerate itself, we do not give an only rest to land above the respect it is own economic good.
The calculation of the ecological footprint is based on the impact that makes each mode or way of life, i.e. communities of human on the planet by comparing it with its capacity.
This calculation is based on:
Certain materials and energy, as all existing products, have their origin in ecological systems are needed to produce any product.In turn, become need ecological systems to reabsorbed waste that we have created to obtain our product or to use it.Later, fill all infrastructures that occupy the space needed for productive ecosystems.The calculation of the ecological footprint is complex and its data are often underestimated the real impact of human activity by the lack of available information.
Here, we show you the data from the calculation of the ecological footprint that took place in a study of 2003 at the global level (Semarnat, 2007)
In it you can see which activities are those more ecological footprint have generated in the population. To understand the result, keep in mind that have spoken earlier, the bases of calculation:
47.5% Burning fossil fuels22.0% agriculture7.6% wood, pulp and paper.6.7% Fishing6.3% livestock3.6% Nuclear energy3.6% urban settlements2.7% LeƱaLa obtaining ecological footprint has made it possible to compare two completely different worlds under one common denominator, its impact to the environment. It allows us to see two closely related realities:
The first observation allows us to see the way of life of the rich countries of the planet can not to expand to the rest of its inhabitants.
While the second, if we talk in terms of sustainable global economy, the wealthy minority would have to reduce their consumption and their standard of living because there would be no sufficient planet that everyone lived as a well-off European citizen because of the exploitation of the resources based on the availability of fossil fuels.
That leaves us in conclusion, that the much of the developed countries ecological footprint exceeds exorbitant way its own surface, given the resources and discharges of waste extraction in places far removed from its territory.
View the original article here
Friday, November 18, 2011
Solar cells cheaper and more efficient with low-quality Silicon
Singapore researchers have taken advantage of the advanced technology that has developed in the creation of nanostructures to make a highly efficient Silicon cell and still cheaper. With this development, the researchers hope that the cost of solar energy can be reduced by half, which could certainly mean the opening of the renewable to millions of people in the world.
This development was carried out jointly by the University of technology of Nanyang (NTU) and the to * STAR Institute of microelectronics (IME). These new thin film solar cells using Silicon low-quality, a cheaper material, allowing a low final price. Exceptional for his invention is that they have found a technique which can generate electricity flows similar to those produced by traditional solar cells that contain such expensive high quality Silicon.
The new nano-estructuradas solar cells NTU-A * STAR can produce a stream of (34.3mA/cm2) - a world record for a solar cell of Silicon of class. This is possible through the creation of a unique texture using nanostructures on the surface of the solar cell, which are thousands of times smaller than a human hair.
To compare the resulting electrical current with the results of other types of solar cells, we can see it quite close to the traditional cells which is 40mA/cm2. While the conventional solar thin film cells typically produce about half of this stream.
The adoption of solar energy worldwide is hampered in large part by the high cost of traditional solar panels , and this is because they are made with high quality Silicon. To rectify this, has been used - as you had above - to low-quality amorphous silicon , a thin film has no texture-- which is 100 times thinner. However this material - is its natural form - is not as effective to convert sunlight into electricity, so it produces less energy.
The developed method is then to create a unique texture on the surface of amorphous, Silicon using nanostructures and thus improves the efficiency of conversion of energy (PCE) of thin film silicon cell and therefore increases the production of energy.
More about high efficiency solar cells:
Solar energy could have its future in the colder regions of the planet
Solar cells with efficiency of 45 %
High efficiency solar cells
A Virus improves the efficiency of solar cells
Solar Cell film fine record of 28.2% efficiency
View the original article here
Thursday, November 17, 2011
The island of trash in the Pacific
The vast expanse of waste - is indeed the landfill of the world's largest garbage - stays instead spinning due to the underwater currents. It begins about 500 nautical miles off the coast of California and across the North Pacific, reaching beyond Hawaii and even near the coast of Japan.
The "island of garbage" is actually not one, but two. I.e., two areas linked to both sides of the islands of Hawaii, known as Western garbage Island and the island of Eastern garbage.
Charles Moore, American oceanographer who discovered the "great Pacific garbage spot" or "trash Vortex" (another name), are about 100 million tons of flotsam that circulate in the region. He is not a solid surface (such as you would indicate the end of "island") but rather of small plastic particles that may be very small, even microscopic.
This occurs because the polymers that make up the plastic materials are disintegrating (separating into smaller elements) but never disappear because the plastic is not biodegradable.
Curtis Ebbesmeyer, an oceanographer prestigious, compares the vortex of garbage as a living being, is - according to-as a large animal without strap. When the animal is approaching the Earth (as does it in the archipelago of Hawaii) results are dramatic, since it leaves the beaches covered this "confetti" of plastic.
Garbage comes mainly (80% estimated) off the coast of United States and Japan. Around of a fifth of the garbage you launch of ships or oil platforms. And according to report those who have traveled the area, the trash includes everything from footballs and kayaks to Lego blocks and shopping bags.
Since the garbage patch is transparent and is located just below the surface of the water, it is not detectable in satellite photographs. Only seen from the bow of the boat.
Activists fighting for the protection of the environment warned that unless consumers reduce the use of disposable plastic, the soup of plastic would double in size over the next decade.
According to the United Nations programme, plastic waste causes the death of an enormous amount of animals: more than one million seabirds each year, as well as more than 100,000 marine mammals. Syringes, cigarette lighters and toothbrushes have been found inside the stomach of dead seabirds, because they confuse them with food.
Learn more about the problems of the oceans in these reports:
The Pacific garbage patch Grand
Two giant whirlpools of Trash in the Pacific Ocean
Easter Island : a man fighting the plastic pollution
The European tuna boats are depleting reserves of South Pacific
View the original article here
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
VII course of expert professional wind energy
For this reason, every time you will find more formations that can Recycle you and train you on this important topic but you will find one better?
Within the program that offers the UNED you learn:
Description of wind energy systems:
The wind and the location. Wind resources
Components of eĆ³licosTipologĆa systems and dimensioning of wind systemsinstallation of Eolian systems:
Mounting
Maintenance
Security in installations eĆ³licasTodos the master and courses offered by the UNED distance, you can communicate with your tutor or teacher through a tutoring telematics through the internet.
You can also enjoy another kind of energy and green building courses as:
Twelfth course of expert professional Energy photovoltaic III course of expert professional analysis, operation and maintenance of photovoltaic systems connected to RedVIII course of expert professional in home automation and Inmotics VII course expert professional equipment and Electrical facilities II course of professional expert in Biomass energy VII course of expert professional in Wind energyII master's degree in renewable energy and system ElƩctricoII course of University expert in Building energy Manager IV course professional expert in Efficient maintenance of facilities in major buildingsin what would you like to specialize?
View the original article here
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Green Cars
Among the innovations that have been presented in the Hall of Los Angeles Auto, one of the ones we have drawn attention related to green cars, is the concept developed by the American firm Cadillac, one of the most classic of the United States.
The design, dubbed Cadillac Aera, as its name suggests, used as compressed air energy source, and although not explained too how it works your engine, have vowed to offer a range of about 1,000 miles (ie, about 1610 kilometers) which is what can go without requiring a recharge.
The charge stored in a small storage tank would be located where the fuel tank, and has a futuristic design by others, despite maintaining the traditional capacity of four occupants, for the nostalgic, use the same system for opening doors the legendary Lamborghini.
Monday, November 14, 2011
The REPSOL Foundation develops your sustainable project
What the REPSOL Foundation proposes, is a contest that outlining the different projects and they as a Foundation, would help the winner to develop your project.Such aid would not only focus on the economic, but that also will provide professionals with high experience in the sector to have excellent technical, legal and business advice .
This initiative is a real opportunity to grow or start in this field. Creating new businesses and create jobs is a great pillar that develops the entrepreneurs Fund, created entirely with private capital.As in all contests, there is a date limit for the proposal, you have until the 30 of November.Once past the deadline, a prestige jury will be in charge of selecting the winning project, which will be announced during the first months of 2012.
Normally, humans timeless dreaming to do one or the other thing, today you have the opportunity to put your dreams in progress and submit your own project the Repsol Foundation.With luck, you'll be working on something that you love and security that this can have a positive impact on the lives of many others and the world in general.The REPSOL Foundation proposes you to do your dream achievable challenge, join a project unforgettable.
View the original article here
Sunday, November 13, 2011
IKEA charging stations
On this occasion, we have the example of the firm, IKEA, known for providing electrical appliances for the home that offer a very low power consumption and high performance, which has decided to make a strong investment for the platform of car is comes next year, turning in lathe their electricity supply so that they work.
The first step to take is the installation of charging stations present in the 10 most important stores of the United States, being one of the first steps of the project called ECOtality, which seeks to integrate electric cars with the most visited shopping malls.
The operation of the engines and the autonomies, a survey of data of yields of car batteries, is will be getting in addition to the operation of these centers of cargo, to seek to contribute to the development of new technologies to obtain a better overall performance.
View the original article here
Reduce consumption electric Intelligy
On this occasion, we have encountered with the presentation of a named device as Intelligy, that as his name is indicating, it is pointed to an intelligent consumption of energy power, easy to use and that will allow us to manage the spending power of a home, Office or any environment.
Of course, this requires an entire infrastructure, with electronic devices that connect wirelessly with this invention, which has the mission to simply monitor how much consumed in periodically, weekly or monthly, and assess a proposal for the user to consume less electricity.
It is easily controllable with a touch screen and a simple, intuitive GUI also scheduled to give an alert when we forget a device is switched on or when we're doing an unnecessary expense.
View the original article here
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Iron Horse Motorcycle Electric zero emissions
This makes electric zero-emissions vehicle , and high performance. This concept was developed to compete in the competition of Isle of Man TT , which is regarded as one of the main electric motorcycle racing in the world.
iron horse stood out in the race of Man TT Island in which he participated recently being in third place and winning a prize of £ 5000 for being the best team in universities, surpassing rival Imperial and MIT, and even other professional teams such as BMW. Its maximum speed reached was 225 km/h.
This career offers a top prize of £ 10,000 (about 11,000 euros) for the first electric motorcycle that can complete the tour with an average speed of 160 km/h. So far, there is no motorcycle that has been achieved.
View the original article here
Friday, November 11, 2011
I hydrogen by mimicking photosynthesis
Focusing on this concept, it has been announced that a new technology that plan to use a very similar to the photosynthesis system to create electricity using hydrogen is currently in full development.
As many know, one of the ways to obtain this raw is "breaking" the water molecule, although also it may be subjected to other processes to generate new hydrocarbon resembling a fossil, fuel behaviour although of course, should participation oxygen in this reaction.
In plants, acts also as an oxidizing agent, but it is quickly released in breathing, absorbing carbon dioxide, which would have to work for increased performance (for the moment, the structure of the hydrogen cell degrades)
As if this out, this would be combined also with the use of solar energy, applying directly using a blue light technology, creating a highly efficient energy conversion system.
At the moment it's all in development and is no more than a project, though it is advancing by leaps and expected results are too optimistic.
View the original article here
Thursday, November 10, 2011
It was Electric Raceabout, electric sports car
A clear example of this is the recently submitted it was Electric Raceabout, a prototype electric car that has been prepared for the high speeds, and which has been proven nothing more and nothing less than at the NĆ¼rburgring, a cradle of high speed, by those who have been its developers, students of the applied of Helsinki University Science (Finland)
It has been done with a chassis, entirely made of carbon fibre, under which we find electrical engines four that mobilise their wheels, powered by a pack of batteries of Litio-Titanio that in total they weigh about 550 kg and give a power of 32kWh.
This powerplant together allows you to achieve a continuous 268 HP , with a rated torque of 1000Nm, allowing it to accelerate from 0 to 100 in 6 seconds and reach a maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour (which could have been higher, and that it was electronically limited)
View the original article here
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Future Perfect: Cloud seeding to end freshwater woes
Cloud seeding Cloud seeding technique to end the drought
What’s happening right now?
With the growing levels of deforestation and global warming, incidences of drastic weather changes and droughts have been on the increase. Naturally, the sufferings are numerous and the losses immense. The focus thus is to somehow eradicate the water hassle and hurdle and present a prosperous environment. The best way to achieve this is by cloud seeding, better explained as a way to cause rainfall artificially. This method is still in the nascent stages of its application and is largely dependent on natural conditions.
There is a particular kind of clouds that can be artificially seeded in order to fasten the process of rainfall and they are thunder clouds. Naturally, it rains only when the rain drops are large and heavy enough to induce a shower. Generally, the densing of these drops takes place by the accumulation of water droplets around an ice nucleus or a tiny particle of ice.
Artificially, this process can be induced by spraying silver iodide over clouds. The gush of the gas induces the freezing of water, even when naturally; the process is simply not possible. When ice crystals are formed, they attract the surrounding water droplets and convert them into drops. These drops collide with each other a make an artificial shower.
However, there is a limitation. Only thunder clouds can be artificially made to rain. The challenge is to do so since during droughts, when water is most needs, these types of clouds seem to have gone for a long hibernation and return when not much in need.
Trends
1. China overdoes cloud seeding to end drought
China Cloud SeedingChina Cloud Seeding
China has been one of the nations that have experimented with this technique. In order to overcome the pounding drought conditions in 2009. 500 sticks of silver iodide, the size of a cigarette stick each were sprayed into clouds, inducing artificial precipitation. The result? Beijing was covered by snow due to excess application of silver iodide and thus an excessive freezing of water particles in the clouds.
2. Cloud Seeding in India
Cloud Seeding in IndiaCloud Seeding in India to end drought
Similar as the case in China, India also had felt the crunch of extreme drought conditions in 2009. In order to free the population of the threatening conditions, the Indian government had set out to build up its own cloud seeding methods. But ritualistically, silver iodide was used to induce rainfall.
The concept
As already discussed in the first section, cloud seeding is the artificial process of inducing rainfall. Going into further depths, the method is traditionally used for two separate purposes. The first motive is to cause artificial rainfalls in order to increase precipitation so as to eradicate drought conditions and protect crops from utter dryness that droughts bring with themselves. The second motive is to reduce the incidence of hail attacks on crops. Hails are destructive for vegetation and they can be stopped by inducing the showering of cloud water before the troposhperic temperature conditions induce the formation of hail.
As of the factors on which the successful process of cloud seeding depends, well, there are two of them, the temperature in the clouds and the time when the chemical is being sprayed into them. The temperature has to be appropriate. At temperature lower than -25 degree Celsius inside the clouds, the spraying of silver iodide would induce the formation of snow rather than rain, a similar case to that of China. If, however, the temperature is well above -10 degrees, then the situation does not encourage the sufficient freezing of water to form bigger droplets of water.
Time is important because, if the winds are fast blowing, the natural process of precipitation does not have enough time to occur sufficiently. As such, artificial seeding is an appropriate method. If, however, the winds are slow, it is better to let the natural process take over.
The advantages
As a highly preferred method must have, this method also has considerable advantages, the foremost among them being that seeding lets man overcome drought conditions. Secondly, crops are protected leading to relief to governments and to all individuals who are connected t agriculture in some way or the other. Natural induction of rainfall reduces the requirement of an elaborate irrigation facility which often claim a whole lot of energy input, thus demanding huge fuel consumption.
The impact
The most potent drawback is that all forms of clouds are not possible to induce to shower by using this method. Secondly, even this artificial method is highly dependent on the natural traits of rainfall, hence it is not of much use during droughts when getting clouds to seed artificially is a challenge in itself.
There is no potent damage that silver iodide causes to the environment, so that is not a concern according to some. This point however remains debatable since some researchers believe in the long term effect of silver iodide on the existence of species. The further development in this method through extensive research would also be used to combat super storms and hurricanes by altering the precipitation in the clouds involved.
View the original article here
Iron: the first 100% renewable world island
The most innovative and technically difficult aspect would be the production of hydroelectric power generated by the pumping of water to a height of 2300 meters (the height of the volcano) to the crater of the dormant volcano. This water will be released through four hydroelectric turbines back into the original source, which is located near the coast.
Hydropower it will provide 11.3MW coupled with 11.5 MW of wind energy, covering 80 percent of the energy needed to supply 11,000 homes, three desalination plants, as well as the energy needs of the tourists who come to be 60,000 or more people. The remaining 20 percent will be for solar thermal and photovoltaic solar panels.
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Tuesday, November 8, 2011
10 clean cities that are most ready for electric cars
electric carsclean cities that are most ready for electric cars
The world has taken to the drive to be more eco-friendly and pollute less. A lot of cities have even initiated resolutions for becoming emission free to a certain extent in a given time frame. From eco-friendly gadgets to eco-friendly clothes - every product is being transformed into a greener and cleaner version. Electric cars are gradually being manufactured by big car-making companies, which would ultimately make them a viable option in terms of cost-effectiveness. A lot many cities are ready to embrace the green and clean electric cars, however, here are ten American cities that are ready to reduce their carbon emissions with their proposals for initiating electric cars.
1. Atlanta: planning to make EV a way of life
Atlanta EVAtlanta an Electrics-Ready Town
GE has planned to launch and EV (Electric Vehicle) tour for the city of Atlanta in order to acquaint the people about the changing and improved EV technology. This will provide an opportunity to the residents to take a test drive of various EV vehicles, manufactured by companies like Ford, GM, Nissan, Smart, Think and Mitsubishi. This event will also mark the growth of back-up infrastructure for recharging these electric vehicles, which is one of the constraints behind the popularity of EVs. A lot of residents are taking up the cause and even the students are fast catching on with this movement to make Atlanta the first city in the US to have achieved the 50 thousand EV mark!
2. Austin (Texas): retailers set to provide infrastructure for EV refueling
Austin, Texas EVAustin, Texas ready for electric cars.
Austin, Texas will see more than a hundred electric vehicle charging stations that are being sponsored by Denny's (a restaurant) and H-E-B (a supermarket chain store). This vast network of refueling stations would be a stimulus to the residents to procure electric vehicles as they would be a viable option. The charging stations would be spread across in locations such as hotels, educational institutions, libraries, retail outlets, restaurants and so on. Austin Energy has also provided rebates to the charging stations to make this a lucrative business.
3. Baltimore (Maryland): switching to EV for sustainability
Baltimore EVBaltimore ready for electric cars.
The Maryland Science Center in Baltimore has taken upon a mission to go out on to the streets with a fleet of electric cars along the Inner Harbor area. They are proposing a sharing electric car called the Altcar that would be Baltimore's effort towards sustainability. These EVs would be very helpful for local residents to go about their regular grocery shopping by using these shared electric vehicles and even the ticket price would be reasonable!
4. Boston: is ready for electric cars in a big way
Boston EVBoston ready for electric cars
Ford Motors has already listed Boston amongst one of the cities that has reached the 25 electric vehicle mark in the USA. However, the number is sure to increase the Fort is coming up with the new Focus Electric that would provide amazing fuel economy as ti will provide an average of 27 mpg on city roads whereas on the highway it would run at 37 mpg. This would be a great car to look forward to in terms of style, comfort and economy!
5. Chicago: the electric car revolution will spread in a big way
Chicago EVChicago ready for electric cars.
Chicago is another US city that is listed in Ford Motors list of the top most 25 cities that are prepared to take on electric vehicles with an advanced network of chargin stations. A charging station distributor by the name of Carbon Day has already set up one hundred charging stations across the city and has signed a contract to install 250 more across the state.
6. Dallas: geared up to launch electric cars in a big way
Dallas EVDallas ready for electric cars.
Another US city that looks ready to take on electric vehicles would be Dallas with their strong infrastructure of charging stations that would be constructed by NRG Energy and would realized this year with 70 odd recharging stations dotted throughout Forth Worth and Dallas. Electric vehicles such as the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf are hitting the regional market .
7. Denver: has ambitious plans for electric cars
Denver EV Denver ready for electric cars.
Denver is another name that features on Ford Motor's list of the top cities that are electric vehicle-ready as the city has ambitious plans to change to alternative electric vehicles.
8. Los Angeles: planning to launch an affordable electric car
Los Angeles EVLos Angeles ready for electric cars.
Think Global, an automobile manufacturer from Norway is planning to launch its low-priced electric vehicles in the US market. This car called Think City would be battery powered and would have the capacity to run up to 110 miles when charged completely at a maximum speed of 65 miles/hour. The car would be very cheaply priced at less than $25,000 and would therefore be a hit with the masses. This vehicle would also have two extra seats for kids, with a plastic body that is 95% recyclable.
9. Portland: electric cars to get a good network of refueling infrastructure
Portland EVPortland ready for electric cars
Electric car drivers will now be having seven more electric charging stations in Portland which will be dotted along a street in downtown Portland that has been called the "Electric Avenue". The state of Oregon presently has four hundred vehicles and hopefully the number should increase with the advent of facilities for recharging of EVs.
10. Washington, DC: Government tie-up to ensure the popularity of EV
Washington, DC EVWashington, DC ready for electric cars.
The DC Government might soon land up with an array of electric cars with the new partnership agreement that has been signed between the District Department of Transportation, AeroVironmnet and Nissan North America that is due to bring many more electric vehicles and recharging stations to Washington, DC
.
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Monday, November 7, 2011
The environment
It is the axis of life, our life, and the development of various activities which they are not just ecological but also lag in the economic order, as modifications to its components derive from losses affecting altogether throughout the rest.
In the environment we can consider two fundamental types of components which interact among themselves as they are in direct contact, and both modify among themselves their behaviours according to symbiotic variations, to know:
Factors BiĆ³ticos: comprises all living things, both the plant and animals (and humans), which is why merely deal with living organisms.
AbiĆ³ticos factors: they are the substrate, sustenance or support of the Alive beings, which include the basic part of their ecosystem, and the area where they develop, feed and reproduce. It then includes the air, water, land and atmosphere, latter being necessary for the development and persistence of life.
Just to speak of the existence of life, we refer to our planet I differentiate components also act together, and that also make up the environment, the following:
Biosphere: Whereas all living beings lithosphere: is considered to the surface and solid layer of the Earth hydrosphere: any body of water regardless of its length, formed by seas, lakes and rivers atmosphere: gaseous layer that surrounds the Earth and largely responsible for the existence of life on the planet.
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Sunday, November 6, 2011
Solar power could have their future in the colder regions of the plane
The research in question appears in ACS Environmental Science & Technologymagazine and was in charge of Kotaro Kawajiri and his team of colleagues. These scientists explain that the potential for generation of electricity with renewable solar energy depends largely on the geographic location to install a solar power plant. And arid and semi-arid, zones with much Sun and long time exposure have been recognized as good places for these purposes. So far, nothing new.
However, the scientists point out that, as a result of the scarcity of available data at the global level related to how influences the climate, there are still gaps in the knowledge of the best geographical locations for the production of solar energy. To extend that knowledge, they developed a technique that allows them to estimate the global potential of solar energy with the data that are available today.
The technique takes into account the effects of temperature on performance of solar cells. In the next stages of this study are also considered other variables, such as the losses during the transmission and impact of snowfall.
As it was expected, found that many of the hot regions, such as the Southwest Desert EE.UU., are ideal places for the installation of large conglomerates of solar panels. However, he also found that many cooler regions that are located on a high-altitude receive a significant amount of light solar.
So much so that in these high mountain areas, the potential to produce solar power is even greater than in some desert areas. Kawajiri and his colleagues found, for example, to the Himalayan mountains (including Mount Everest) could be an ideal place to install solar farms which could generate much electricity for the economy in rapid expansion of the People's Republic of China.
Other areas that were potentially promising for solar power generation in cold conditions were the mountains of the Cordillera de los Andes and even the cold - indeed - frozen land of Antarctica. We will have to see what conclusions get futures and most exhaustive analysis to be carried out to adjust the model, and above all, what says the reality in live, beyond theory.
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Saturday, November 5, 2011
Wind energy | Vertical axis turbines 10 times more efficient than the traditional
Despite improvements in the design of the wind turbines that have increased their efficiency, wind farms are still quite inefficient. According to Dabiri - director of research - this can be resolved with a proper installation of the turbines.
The modern wind farms usually employ horizontal axis turbines (horizontal-axis wind turbines or HAWTs), the most famous, with their typical format of a high tower with a propeller that rotate slowly.
These holdings, the turbines individual must be widely separated between themselves. Not just enough so that their giant blades do not touch, but much more, since the wake of wind generated may interfere the aerodynamics of the neighboring turbines. This great distance implies a greater amount of land and therefore more investment.
There have been - it says - a tendency to try to compensate for this loss of energy making larger propellers and the more high towers, to absorb the energy of the wind at higher altitudes, there where bursts are more powerful. But this brings other problems, such as higher costs, more complex engineering problems and a greater environmental impact.
Models for HAWTs and VAWTs
The solution, says Dabiri, is to focus on the design of the wind farm itself, to maximise efficiency in the Heights close to the ground. To this end the turbines VAWTs (vertical axis) are ideal, since that can be placed very close to each other. This allows them to capture nearly all of the energy of the wind.
You have each turbine rotating in the opposite direction to its neighbors, also enhances its effectiveness. As explained, this decreases the friction allowing the turbine to spin faster.
In field tests conducted during the summer of 2010, Dabiri and his colleagues measured the speed and the power generated by each of the six turbines, placing them in a number of different configurations. This was done by leaving a turbine in a fixed position while the other had a system of portable site that allowed that they were displaced.
Tests showed that when the you turbines were placed spaced between Yes by a distance of approximately 5 meters (equivalent to 4 diameters of the turbine) was removed entirely interference aerodynamics between neighboring turbines. In comparison, the Elimination of aerodynamic interference between the largest currently in use horizontal axis turbines require a space of about 20 diameters of distance (more than one mile).
The six vertical axis turbines (VAWTs) generated between 21 to 47 Watts of power per square meter of land. While a comparable size farm consisting of horizontal axis (HAWT) turbines were generated as little as 2 to 3 Watts per square meter.
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