Different Currents In The Stream

Here are a few of the stories or websites I thought were of interest this past week.

Cool Solar Calculator - This website at CoolerPlanet.com has some informative interactive maps of the country, with different solar power ratings for the various states, local and state and federal incentives for solar systems. You will also find Solar Resource links to solar tools and calculators.

Our Oceans may be a limitless source of clean energy. The idea was first conceived in the 1880's by a french physicist Jacques d'Arsonval. Called Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Technology (OTEC), the system takes advantage of the temperature differences of the different depths of the ocean.

First, warm surface water heats a fluid with a low boiling point, such as ammonia or a mixture of ammonia and water. When this "working fluid" boils, the resulting gas creates enough pressure to drive a turbine that generates power. The gas is then cooled by passing it through cold water pumped up from the ocean depths via massive fibreglass tubes, perhaps 1000 metres long and 27 metres in diameter, that suck up cold water at a rate of 1000 tonnes per second. While the gas condenses back into a liquid that can be used again, the water is returned to the deep ocean. "It's just like a conventional power plant where you burn a fuel like coal to create steam," says Cohen.

I hope the Obama administration pays attention to efforts like the Google 2030 project.




The online mag, the New Scientist makes an argument that limits on growth are leading to economic collapse prophesied 30 years ago by the Club of Rome in the book Limits of Growth, published in 1972. According to the article we may have approx. a decade to prepare for this eventuality.

Changes in industrial production, food production and pollution are all in line with the book's predictions of collapse in the 21st century, says Turner. According to the book, the path we have taken will cause decreasing resource availability and an escalating cost of extraction that triggers a slowdown of industry, which eventually results in economic collapse some time after 2020.