05 Energy – Page 29 – Public Intelligence Blog

As you would say, “we do not make this up.”

Florida Makes Off-Grid Living Illegal – Mandates All Homes Must Be Connected To An Electricity Grid

It’s no secret that an opposition to sustainable living exists. Earlier this year, Texas state brought several SWAT teams to a sustainable community and threatened to shut it down. Each one of the community members were initially handcuffed at gunpoint. It was called “The Garden of Eden Community,” and was totally self sustainable. You can read more about that here.

off grid This time, it’s Robin Speronis that’s come under fire. She lives off the grid in Florida, completely independent of the city’s water and electric system. A few weeks ago, officials ruled her off-grid home illegal. Officials cited the International Property Maintenance Code, which mandates that homes be connected to an electricity grid and a running water source. That’s just like saying our dependency on corporations isn’t even a choice. The battle to live without most utilities has been ongoing for Robin, the self-sufficient woman has lived for more than a year and a half using solar energy, a propane camping stove and rain water.

Continue reading “Berto Jongman: Florida Makes It Illegal to Live Sustainably”

2014/03/07

Yoda: Multiferroics = 1000X Energy Efficiency

05 Energy, Advanced Cyber/IO

Multiferroics could help make computer processors 1,000 times more efficient

Materials that are both ferroelectric and magnetic – hence, multiferroics – are rare.

EXTRACT

The UCLA Engineering team used multiferroic magnetic materials to lessen the amount of power consumed by “logic devices,” which are a type of circuit on a computer chip devoted to performing functions such as calculations. A multiferroic can be switched on or off by applying alternating voltage, which then carries power through the material in a cascading wave through the spins of electrons – a process referred to as a spin wave bus.

A spin wave keeps water molecules in basically the same place while the energy is carried through the water – as opposed to an electric current, which is akin to water flowing through a pipe, according to principal investigator Kang L. Wang, UCLA’s Raytheon Professor of Electrical Engineering and director of the Western Institute of Nanoelectronics (WIN).

The UCLA researchers were able to show that using this multiferroic material to produce spin waves could decrease wasted heat and therefore increase power efficiency for processing by up to 1,000 times.

Read full article.

2014/03/032014/03/03

Sepp Hasslberger: IBM Solar Collector Magnifies Sun by 2000X – Could be Power Solution for Entire Planet

05 Energy

IBM Solar Collector Magnifies Sun By 2000X – These Could Provide Power To The Entire Planet

A team at IBM recently developed what they call a High Concentration Photo Voltaic Thermal (HCPVT) system that is capable of concentrating the power of 2,000 suns, they are even claiming to be able to concentrate energy safely up to 5,000X, that’s huge.

The process of trapping the sunlight produces water that can be used to produce filtered drinkable water, or used for other things like air conditioning etc. Scientists envision that the HCPVT system could provide sustainable energy and fresh water to communities all around the world.

Continue reading “Sepp Hasslberger: IBM Solar Collector Magnifies Sun by 2000X – Could be Power Solution for Entire Planet”

2014/03/02

SchwartzReport: Clean Energy Reduces Storms and Saves Money

05 Energy, Commercial Intelligence, Earth Intelligence

Here is what I think is the truth. We could make the conversion to non-carbon energy within a generation if we could muster the political and social will to do so. Sadly, I am afraid the secret government within the government that is controlled in large measure by carbon energy intere! sts, combined with the almost grotesque ignorance of the American electorate will not allow it to happen. But it could be done, and it would be significantly cheaper for customers, would create tens of thousands of jobs, as weel as improving the economy.

Running It All On Clean Energy: ‘A Question Of Social And Political Will”
CleanTechnica

Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment Senior Fellow Mark Jacobson says the United States has the technology and logistical ability to convert to all-renewable energy sources by 2050-if we can manage to exercise the social and political will to do so. He’s the guy who told David Letterman we already have enough wind to power the entire world ‘seven times over.” Now he has proven his point with a groundbreaking roadmap to clean energy for all 50 U.S. states.

With colleagues from academia and industry, Jacobson-a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford and a senior fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy-recently developed detailed plans that three states (New York, 2/18/13; Washington, 1/14/14; and California, yesterday-2/22/14) could use to switch over their energy infrastructures from conventional fuels to 100% renewable resources by 2050. As Jacobson uses the term, ‘infrastructure” includes electric power, transportation, heating/cooling, and industry uses. ‘Renewable power” is derived primarily from wind, water, and sunlight (WWS), generating electricity and electrolytic hydrogen.

Some findings of research behind the plans:

Powering the U.S. with only wind, water, and solar energy sources would save the average consumer $3,400 per year.
Over 15 years, driving an electric car could save $20,000-$40,000 in energy costs.
In 2013, states endowed with greater wind power had energy costs increase 3 cents; all other states (except Hawaii) saw costs increase 4 cents.
Large offshore wind farms could reduce hurricane storm surges up to 80% and wind speeds up to 50%.
Powering the country solely with WWS could generate a 3% GDP uptick.

Read full article.

2014/02/202014/02/20

Sepp Hasslberger: Seafloor Carpet Generates Energy

05 Energy

Apparently waves are pretty energy dense and could be used to generate power in a simple way…

“Alam estimated that one square meter of a seafloor carpet system could generate enough electricity to power two U.S. households.

He added that wave energy from just 10 meters of California coastline, or about 100 square meters of a seafloor carpet, could generate the same amount of power as an array of solar panels the size of a soccer field, which covers about 6,400 square meters.”

Seafloor carpet catches waves to generate energy

UC Berkeley engineers are developing a seafloor carpet system to capture ocean wave energy and convert it into usable electricity. The system could eventually help lower the cost of converting seawater into fresh water, easing the pressure during periods of drought.

For assistant professor Reza Alam, an expert in wave mechanics, the seafloor “carpet” he is proposing will convert ocean waves into usable energy.

“There is a vast amount of untapped energy in the oceans, and with increasing worldwide demand for power, the need to find cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels is critical,” said Alam. “We are also seeing greater population growth along coastal cities, so the ocean-based system we are developing would produce electricity in a carbon-neutral way right where it is needed.”

Rest of release and 2 minute video.

2014/02/09

SchwartzReport: Solar Employs, Nuclear & Oil Destroy

05 Energy, Earth Intelligence

Here is what I consider to be excellent news. As opposed to the Keystone pipeline which will create a few thousand jobs in the construction phase but only 35 — yes count'em — 35 jobs on an ongoing basis, solar is creating thousands of jobs, and will for decades to come.

Need Jobs? US Solar Industry Provides Employment for More People Than Coal and Oil Combined
CHRISTINE SARICH – Nation of Change

Welcome to the future, its already here. Solar employs and nuclear destroys; we have ample evidence of that now, and with the annual U.S. solar jobs census we now have proof that solar power isn’t just providing energy, without destroying our oceans and contaminating the earth and air with strontium, caesium and barium, among other chemicals, it is providing more than 143,000 Americans a paycheck.

Read full article.

See Also:

Solar @ Phi Beta Iota

2014/02/082014/02/08

SchwartzReport: Obesity Linked to Antibiotics?

01 Agriculture, 03 Economy, 04 Education, 05 Energy, 06 Family, 07 Health, 11 Society, 12 Water, Civil Society, Commerce, Corruption, Government

Here for the first time we see a possible explanation for the explosion of Obesity, and the connection between the rampant overuse of antibiotics and our deeply sick industrial agriculture system. Once again it demonstrates the profit of the few over the wellness of the many. Our society is dying because we either cannot or will not commit to social policies that prioritize national wellness.

Obesity in the United States – Dysbiosis From Exposure to Low-dose Antibiotics?
Lee W. Riley, Eva Raphael, and Eduardo Faerstein, Division of Infectious Disease and Vaccinology, School of Public Health, University of California – Frontiers in Public Health

Phi Beta Iota: Obesity is a cultural outcome of social decay and a mix of corporate and government irresponsibility. It has many causes. What does not exist today in accessible form to the public is a true cost analysis of corrupt agriculture, corrupt energy, corrupt water, and corrupt everything these — obesity is symptom of a society that has lost its mind and soul.

See Also:

Obesity @ Phi Beta Iota