Yoda: China Thinking — Rifkin Rising — Not Enough

02 China, 05 Energy
Got Crowd? BE the Force!
Got Crowd? BE the Force!

Free, energy is.  Corrupt, governments are.

The London Times: China Embraces Rifkin’s Third Industrial Revolution

The London Times reported that members of the twenty-four person Politburo and senior party officials are reading and actively discussing Jeremy Rifkin’s New York Times bestselling book, The Third Industrial Revolution, on the eve of the National Party Congress on November 8th that will usher in the new leadership of China– see attached article from the November 3rd edition of The London Times

According to The Times of London, the Chinese leadership is taking up Rifkin’s vision of linking internet technology with renewable energies, to prepare China for a dramatic shift into a sustainable post-carbon Third Industrial Revolution economy in the 21st century. The Third Industrial Revolution has been the number one bestselling economics book in China for more than four months.

Continue reading “Yoda: China Thinking — Rifkin Rising — Not Enough”

SchwartzReport: Schools Can Be Net Zero and Earn $2000 a Month with Excess Solar Power

02 Diplomacy, 05 Energy

schwartz reportNet Zero’s Net Worth: How Renewable Energy Is Rescuing Schools from Budget Cuts

 

Educators across the country are finding millions of dollars in savings through cheap and simple forms of renewable energy.

Erin L. McCoy

Yes! 5 November 2012

As the new Richardsville Elementary School rose from its foundations on a rural road north of Bowling Green, Ky., fourth-grader Colton Hendrick was watching closely.

He would climb to the top of the playground equipment across the street and watch construction crews hauling in bamboo flooring and solar panels.

“He wants to be an architect some day,” recalled Manesha Ford, elementary curriculum coordinator and leader of the school’s energy team. “He would sit and draw, draw all the different aspects.”

Richardsville Elementary actually earns $2,000 a month selling excess energy to the local power company.

But Richardsville Elementary would not only capture Hendrick’s imagination—it would come to inspire his classmates and school districts around the world. When Richardsville opened its doors in fall 2010, it was the first “net zero” school in the nation, meaning that the school produces more energy on-site than it uses in a year.

Solar tubes piping sunlight directly into classrooms eliminate much of the school’s demand for electric light, while a combination of geothermal and solar power cut down on the rest of the energy bill. Concrete floors treated with a soy-based stain don’t need buffing. The kitchen, which in most schools contributes to 20 percent of the energy bill, houses a combi-oven that cooks healthier meals and eliminates frying. This means an exhaust fan doesn’t pipe the school’s temperature-controlled air to the outdoors all day long. Meanwhile, “green screens” in the front hall track the school’s energy usage so kids can see the impact of turning off a light in real time.

These and other innovations make Richardsville better than net zero. It actually earns about $2,000 a month selling excess energy to the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Read full article.

 

George Abney: Emerging Desalination Technology

05 Energy, 12 Water
George Abney
George Abney

Respect is due to those who developed the viable method of desalination of seawater described in this report. A means of mitigating the damage done by fracking to potable ground water should include Canadian advances in desalination technology presented by Tang/Zoshi of rexresearch.com. The cumulative effects of fracking includes networked systems in the environment including aquatics. Mere substitution of lost fresh water supplies may prove inadequate to remedy the total negative cost of fracking. Anticipated economic benefits from shale oil production may fund a more profound restoration of lost environmental securities.

James TANG & Joshua ZOSHI

Desalination

Saltworks Technologies is positioned to commercialize a breakthrough desalination technology during a time of increasing freshwater scarcity, rising energy prices, and mounting concerns over carbon impacts.

Saltworks' patent pending technology employs an innovative Thermo-Ionic™ energy conversion system that uses up to 80 per cent less electrical/mechanical energy relative to leading desalination technologies. The energy reduction is achieved by harnessing low temperature heat and atmospheric dryness to overcome the desalination energy barrier. Saltwater is evaporated to produce a concentrated solution. This solution, which has concentration gradient energy, is fed into Saltworks' proprietary desalting device to desalinate either seawater or brackish water. Some electrical energy is used to circulate fluids at a low pressure, yet the bulk of the energy input is obtained through the evaporation of saltwater.

Perfomance of this novel process improves in arid regions, which happen to be the very regions that require freshwater. The technology also requires less pre-treatment and chemicals than traditional processes.

Applications for Saltworks' technology include producing drinking water for communities and municipalities, irrigation water for agriculture, and process water for industry. It is especially well-suited for situations with low temperature thermal energy (30-40 degrees Celsius) such as simple solar thermal or waste heat.

The technology has been proof-tested by the National Research Council of Canada and BC Hydro's Powertech Labs. An outfitted 1,000 litre a-day seawater pilot plant complete with chemical free pre-treatment will soon be fully operational at a harbour location in Vancouver, British Columbia.

See Also:

Albert AUL : Electrogravitational Desalination

NIGHTWATCH: China, India, Spratleys, Oil — and a Coming Grudge Match?

02 China, 03 India, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Energy
Click on Image to Enlarge

China-India; China warned India to stop oil exploration in the South China Sea after the Indian Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Joshi, said he was prepared to send Indian naval ships there to protect its interests.

India's state oil company, ONGC, is exploring three oil blocks close to the disputed Spratly Islands – known as Nansha Islands in China – in partnership with the Vietnamese government, which claims sovereignty over the collection of 45 tiny islands and atolls, along with China, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.

China told Vietnam on 6 December to stop unilateral oil exploration in disputed areas of the South China Sea and to not harass Chinese fishing boats, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Continue reading “NIGHTWATCH: China, India, Spratleys, Oil — and a Coming Grudge Match?”

John Robb: Natural Gas Leaks — Be Very Concerned

03 Economy, 05 Energy, 07 Health, 11 Society
John Robb

Natural Gas leaks

Now this is disturbing. The natural gas pipeline system that supplies 65 million customers in the US is not only old, it's poorly maintained. Some of the pipes in the Boston area are over a century old and made with cast iron or (even) wood. The problem is that a financially strapped US simply doesn't invest in infrastructure anymore.

How badly are these pipes leaking? A recent study by Boston University found 3,000 leaks at the street level in the Boston area. A handful of these leaks were large enough to be explosive.

There are even some civil suits underway against gas companies for the damage natural gas leaks have caused to trees/vegetation (there's $133 million in property damage a year from leaks). Regardless, I'm sure this can't be healthy for the people living there.

Natural Gas Leaks One Part of One City
Click on Image to Enlarge

 

Sepp Hasslberger: Deep Geothermal $1B = 100 Nuclear Plants But Clean and Safe

05 Energy
Sepp Hasslberger

Deep Geothermal: The Untapped Energy Source

Until now, geothermal technology has only been used on a small scale to produce power. But with major new projects now underway, deep geothermal systems may soon begin making a significant contribution to the world’s energy needs.

Ultimately, thanks to unusually hot rock close to the surface and existing infrastructure from oil-and-gas production, the Cooper River basin alone could produce about 10,000 megawatts of electricity — enough to replace 20 large coal-fired power plants, says geologist Doone Wyborn, Geodynamic's chief scientist. That’s just a taste of the potential that this technology, known as enhanced geothermal systems, holds for Australia and the world, according to Wyborn.

In the US, researchers estimate that for just $1 billion invested over 40 years — the cost of one large coal-fired power plant and a fraction of the cost of a nuclear power plant — 100 gigawatts of clean, dependable geothermal power could be developed in the United States alone. That’s the energy equivalent of more than 200 coal-fired power plants or 100 new nuclear power plants.

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