tagged w/ Energy Crisis
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Umm no politician on either side would be dumb enough to "soar" gas prices in an election year.Umm no politician on either side would be dumb enough to "soar" gas prices... more
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Houston, Texas -- As gasoline prices ratchet up past the $4-a-gallon mark, the oil industry is preparing a more luxurious way to present its increasingly costly product to consumers.
“Think expensive fragrances, top-shelf liquor and premium cosmetic formulas,” said John “Wildcat” Crenshaw, Vice President of the Petroleum Marketers Association.
“They’re not pumped and purchased like raw sewage. They’re bottled in designer glass, packaged in attractive wrappings, and branded with memorable names and taglines.
“When gas reaches $5 a gallon, it joins the list of a luxury items. That means we’ve got to give it the same treatment.”
Crenshaw previewed the branding efforts of several major oil corporations. Shell Oil will be offering a faux crystal decanter that carries the brand name “Extinction” and the slogan “Refined from 100% white meat dinosaur.”
Chevron will be bottling its fuel in “futuristic/retro” containers under the “Dilithium” brand. “Warping without the whining” is the enterprising tagline here.
Exxon-Mobil’s entry into luxury gas branding is called “Tiger,” in tribute to when Exxon used to invite drivers to “put a tiger in your tank.”
The gas comes in a fiberglass tiger head vessel. And for every 100 gallons purchased, an actual tiger will be “rescued” from the wild so it can “run away” with a circus. “Exxon just loves to find ways to piss off PETA,” Crenshaw explained.
British Petroleum is taking a more realistic approach, marketing its gas in gallon metal drums that resemble the barrels in which refined oil is transported. Sold under the “Gusher” brand-name, BP’s luxury product will carry the slogan “Don’t spill. Don’t tell.”
Crenshaw finished his presentation by pointing out the cost of the proposed packaging will raise the price of gas to over $10 a gallon.
“That actually is an advantage,” he said. “The higher the price, the more luxurious the product, which justifies our luxury branding. Besides, if the oil companies are selling less gallons, they need to make higher profits on every gallon they do sell. That makes luxury a necessity.”Houston, Texas -- As gasoline prices ratchet up past the $4-a-gallon mark, the oil... more
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Augusta, Georgia -- An electric utility here is building the first new nuclear generating plants to be constructed in the US since 1978. Its safety secret: the use of giant, automotive type airbags to cushion and protect the facility from the destructive forces of earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes.
“Nuclear energy is now officially safe energy,” said Bartholomew J. Simpson, undersecretary of overdevelopment for the US Department of Energy. “Our new airbag scheme will protect any reactor core from your choice of natural disaster, even if you forget to buckle your seatbelt.”
Simpson explained that like the airbags in your car, the pneumatically inflated cushions of the Bumper Optimized Meltdown Barrier (BOMB) are designed to isolate all vital components of the reactor from virtually any external blow or shockwave.
“These huge pillows instantly inflate in .05 seconds, making them foolproof. Now even some idiot who would strap the family dog to the roof of his car can operate a nuclear reactor safely, all thanks to BOMB,” Simpson noted.
The Energy Department official also reported that the nuclear industry has finally found a permanent solution for its spent fuel disposal problem.
“We’re going to use surplus intercontinental ballistic missiles to shoot our radioactive waste up to the moon, where it will become China’s problem,” said Simpson. “We call this plan The Alice Option: Bang, Zoom, to the Moon.”
When questioned about the wisdom of launching armament-ready plutonium into outer space, Simpson tried to calm the crowd.
“Okay, let’s say the rocket fails and the missile has to crash back on earth. Maybe it lands somewhere in Iran. Maybe it lands in North Korea. Maybe it teaches someone a lesson. Don’t ask me. I’ve never strapped a dog to the roof of my car.”Augusta, Georgia -- An electric utility here is building the first new nuclear... more
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Despite Europe's economic problems, members of the European Parliament have approved more public money for one of the most expensive scientific gambles of all time.
The International Thermo-nuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, is designed to prove that it's possible to produce environmentally-friendly energy through nuclear fusion.
Video report at the link (BBC News)
For more information on ITER check out the link below
http://www.dropyourenergybill.com/archives/1922Despite Europe's economic problems, members of the European Parliament have... more
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6 months ago
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A star is born. And, less than a second later, it dies. On a drab science park just outside the Oxfordshire village of Culham, some of the world's leading physicists stare at a monitor to review a video of their wondrous, yet fleeting, creation.
"Not too bad. That was quite a clean one," observes starmaker-in-chief Professor Steve Cowley. Just a few metres away from his control room, a "mini star" not much larger than a family car has just burned, momentarily bright, at temperatures approaching 23 million degrees centigrade inside a 70-tonne steel vessel.
Cowley sips his coffee. "OK, when do we go again?"
Last year, when asked to name the most pressing scientific challenge facing humanity, Professors Stephen Hawking and Brian Cox both gave the same answer: producing electricity from fusion energy. The prize, they said, is enormous: a near-limitless, pollution-free, cheap source of energy that would power human development for many centuries to come. Cox is so passionate about the urgent need for fusion power that he stated that it should be scientists such as Cowley who are revered in our culture – not footballers or pop stars – because they are "literally going to save the world". It is a "moral duty" to commercialise this technology as fast as possible, he said. Without it, our species will be in "very deep trouble indeed" by the end of this century.
Read the full article at the linkA star is born. And, less than a second later, it dies. On a drab science park just... more
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9 months ago
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A WAR TIME EFFORT, EQUALLING THE MANHATTAN PROJECT, AT LEAST, WOULD MAKE US ENERGY INDEPENDENT IN A COUPLE OF YEARS ONLY!
Energy in general, and the cost of oil/gasoline in particular, with their exhaustive drain on consumer purchasing power and adding prohibitively to the cost of most production, has been a NATIONAL CRISIS for some time now. Why then, is this most essential issue still being dallied with, and treated like something that we have to get around to, sometime, when it's "really" necessary.
While the "greatest" country in the world is dragging it's feet on the issue, Europe and China are racing ahead with plans to build enough high tech solar power collectors to power all of Europe: ( http://inhabitat.com/worlds-largest-solar-project-sahara-desert/ )
The priceofoil.org lays out how the subsidies which are given to the oil industry in exchange for large campaign contributions to legislators, are preventing the development of, and move towards clean sustainable energy. In other words, legislators are holding the entire nation, and our entire population, hostage to bankrupting oil dependency in exchange for campaign c ontributions. To make matters worse, they're giving Big Oil large sums of your money, and only getting back pennies on the dollar in campaign contributions. It's estimated that the various forms of subsidies given to oil this year tally in the range of 90 billion dollars! ( http://priceofoil.org/thepriceofoil/clean-energy/ ) ( http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0309/Budget-hawks-Does-US-need-to-give-gas-and-oil-companies-41-billion-a-year )
One can only conclude from all of this information, that the absence of campaign finance reform and the end of corporate personhood, which permits and fosters legislative corruption and the legislative betrayal of this country, for forty pieces of silver in the form of campaign contributions, is what is preventing this country from solving it's energy crisis and holding us hostage to foreign oil! And if this isn't a breach of legislative fiduciary to the people of the United States, can anyone clarify what is?A WAR TIME EFFORT, EQUALLING THE MANHATTAN PROJECT, AT LEAST, WOULD MAKE US ENERGY... more
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Hobbs conference focuses on nuclear energy issues
N.M. Tech News Service
HOBBS – Nuclear energy, small-scale reactors and safety in the industry will take center stage next month at the 2011 national energy conference in Hobbs.
The Uranium Fuel Cycle Conference on Wednesday and Thursday, April 27 and 28, will focus on potential developments and implementation of small-scale reactors.
The conference features top leaders in nuclear technology, including Babcock & Wilcox, New Mexico Tech, URENCO USA, Washington TRU Solutions, Uranium Resources Inc., Energy Solutions and the U.S. Department of Energy.
The "uranium fuel cycle" begins with mining, continues with enrichment, followed by use in a reactor, and ends with processing and storage. Hobbs is in the center of the developing Eastern New Mexico Energy Corridor, which is involved in all aspects of the nuclear energy fuel cycle.
"Almost the entire cycle is contained in New Mexico, from mining to waste storage. This conference is an important step in bringing together key players in the area and continuing a dialogue about energy and our national policies," said Van Romero, Ph.D. and vice president of research at New Mexico Tech.
A new enrichment facility is now operational near Eunice, N.M. A deconversion plant is in the licensing stage in Lea County. Also located in the region are Waste Control Specialist LLC and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, near Carlsbad, which is a long-term storage facility funded by the Department of Energy. While not currently being mined, vast deposits of raw uranium ore exist in west-central New Mexico.
What's missing? The small-scale nuclear power plants.
"Communities in southeast New Mexico have expressed an interest in nuclear power," Romero said.
One area the conference will focus on is the commercial deployment of small nuclear reactors in eastern New Mexico. Representatives of Babcock & Wilcox will present their strategy to how to deploy a light-water reactor system to provide energy to communities in New Mexico.
Babcock & Wilcox is the leading international company in development and deployment of small-scale nuclear reactors. The company unveiled the B&W mPower reactor in 2009. The mPower reactor, with its scalable, modular design, has the capacity to provide 125 megawatts to 750 megawatts of electricity for a five-year operating cycle without refueling. The reactor is designed to produce clean, near-zero emission operations, according to the company website.
Following the Babcock & Wilcox presentation, Romero will lead a discussion on "Small Reactor Research and Readiness." Then, a representative from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy will talk on the status and outlook for nuclear energy development.
The two-day conference is hosted by the New Mexico Center for Energy Policy, a division of New Mexico Tech, the Economic Development Corp. of Lea County and New Mexico Junior College.
Online registration is under way at www.energyplexnm.com or by calling 575-397-2039.
Read more: ABQJOURNAL BIZ: Hobbs conference focuses on nuclear energy issues http://www.abqjournal.com/biz/212143529029biz03-21-11.htm#ixzz1Jmt91Adv
Subscribe Now Albuquerque JournalHobbs conference focuses on nuclear energy issues
N.M. Tech News Service... more
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And thirty-six years ago Capitol Hill was just a little bit different - okay, maybe a lot different. Well . . .you get to hear how different by hitting the "play" button when you get to the site.And thirty-six years ago Capitol Hill was just a little bit different - okay, maybe a... more
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"It hardly made an impression on a US public preoccupied with comings and goings of Charlie Sheen. President Obama wants to pretend that American life-on-wheels will just keep rolling along. He hasn't so much as hinted to the US public that the time approaches when gasoline will have to be rationed either by high prices or odd-and-even licenses plates or some other method. Charming fellow that he is, his fecklessness in the face of disintegrating oil markets will go down in history as something like Nero's musical solo while Rome burned down."
Mr. Kunstler certainly has a way with words. Read the full article here:
http://kunstler.com/blog/2011/02/wake-me-shake-me.html"It hardly made an impression on a US public preoccupied with comings and goings... more
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John Pemberton of Southern Company thinks the oil spill disaster in the Gulf may muddy the waters of Congress's environmental debate. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.John Pemberton of Southern Company thinks the oil spill disaster in the Gulf may muddy... more
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The term “microgrid” may conjure up images of self-sufficient military bases and remote outposts, generating and consuming power without any connections to the larger electricity grid. After all, backup generators that support multiple buildings — the bare-bones definition of a microgrid — are already a mainstay of hospitals, refineries, data centers, semiconductor plants and other institutions that can’t afford to let the power go down, even for a second. Such stand-alone microgrids now add up to about 450 megawatts of commercial and industrial capacity, and another 322 megawatts in the campus and institutional sector, in the U.S., according to Pike Research.
But utilities, as well as their customers and partners, are increasingly looking past microgrids’ ability to “island” themselves to protect from broader power outages, and are seeking out ways they can use their on-site distributed power generation, and demand reduction and management systems to help the grid at large. Theoretically, these types of microgrids could help the outside grid keep its own power quality stable, helping entire neighborhoods ride through disruptions. And at the end of the road, microgrids could sell their generation and demand reduction back to the utilities they usually buy power from, giving would-be microgrid operators a whole new set of financial incentives to help bolster their business cases.
Legos of the Smart Grid
In fact, these bite-sized smart grid systems could be an inevitable part of the build out of the “super grid” envisioned by such smart grid champions as Al Gore. That’s because microgrids could help ease the “smart at the edges, dumb in the middle” problem recently described by Ray Gogel, president and COO of Current Group. Gogel told Forbes in February that all the smart meters, rooftop solar panels and other “nodes” on the edges of the grid will require much more robust communications and controls along the “middle mile” of distribution substations and feeder lines to operate effectively. Properly designed and integrated microgrids could aggregate many of these edge nodes into a single point of interconnection and interface, making the job of coordinating them in the middle that much easier.
Dave Pacyna, senior vice president of Siemens Energy’s North American transmission and distribution division, sees microgrids as a natural part of the evolution of the smart grid. Pacyna said in a January interview:
http://earth2tech.com/2010/02/17/microgrids-building-blocks-of-the-smart-grid/The term “microgrid” may conjure up images of self-sufficient military... more
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Each year there are more inventions that are created to eventually eliminate the world’s need for nonrenewable resources. One of the latest concepts is the Turbine Light concept. The Turbine Light is an idea to light up the highways by using wind-generated energy instead of electricity.
The Turbine Lights work by using the air from the cars as they pass the light poles on the highway. Of course, the concept would work much easier if the lights were in a position where wind gusts are normally and naturally high.
Although the concept is smart and innovative, there are some minor considerations. One question is whether or not a passing car would be able to generate enough wind to produce the energy the lights need.
Recently the concept was entered into a Greener gadgets competition that was searching for new ways to save the planet. If this concept were to work it could greatly change the infrastructure and possibly lead to more innovative ideas about transportation. There is a growing demand for alternative energy uses and the two most promising energy forces are the sun and the wind. With the Turbine Lights, the wind is used.
Via Ubergizmo
Tags: Concepts, Design, Technology News
http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/turbine-light-concept-to-light-up-highways-08-02-2010/?utm_source=feedburnerEach year there are more inventions that are created to eventually eliminate the... more
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At times it’s seemed like geothermal power is the Rodney Dangerfield of clean energy – it’s gotten little respect compared with glitzier cousins like solar and wind. But that image is changing as more investment flows into the industry and new technologies make tapping the heat below the earth’s surface cheaper and more accessible. According to the Geothermal Energy Association there are 144 new U.S. geothermal plants under development, which could add seven gigawatts of new baseload power, and enhanced geothermal systems, a field of promising new technologies, could increase the U.S. geothermal generation capacity 40 fold, according to the Department of Energy.
We sat down with Robert Warburton, acting chief executive officer of Vulcan Power Company, to get his outlook for the industry. The Bend, Or.-based geothermal project developer, which announced earlier this week that it raised $108 million in private equity investment, has some 170,000 acres of geothermal properties in four Western states including California and Nevada. Vulcan is currently developing geothermal plants totaling 300 MW of power, and it has signed 180 MW of long-term power purchase agreements with utilities, with another 120 MW currently under negotiation.
http://earth2tech.com/2010/02/05/qa-vulcan-powers-ceo-on-the-potential-of-geothermal/At times it’s seemed like geothermal power is the Rodney Dangerfield of clean... more
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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- President Hugo Chavez has turned to his friends in Cuba for help in tackling Venezuela's energy crisis, drawing criticism for seeking advice from the communist-led island that has struggled with its own electricity woes.
Chavez gave few details on Wednesday about what is expected of Cuba, but insisted that ''it's valuable experience that's serving us well.'' He said that he spoke for hours Tuesday with Cuban Vice President Ramiro Valdes after his arrival in Venezuela to lead the consulting team.
The decision to seek help from Cuba bewildered Venezuelans coping with the nation's power shortage. ''It's laughable that he's looking for help from Cuba,'' said Aixa Lopez, director of the Committee for People Affected by Power Outages, which monitors the extent of current energy shortages and rationing in Venezuela.
Chavez blames a drought for bringing the country's hydroelectric reservoirs to their lowest levels in decades, prompting a wave of planned and unplanned blackouts across the country. Critics acknowledge the lack of rainfall, but blame Chavez's government for failing to upgrade power generation capacity even as the oil-rich country's consumption has soared.
Cuba itself has suffered a series of electricity crises since the collapse of the Soviet Union removed a major source of oil and financing. It now gets much of its imported oil from Venezuela. The island's communist government has had some success against once-routine blackouts by upgrading generating capacity and imposing sometimes draconian energy-saving measures.
Even so, Cuban officials last summer were forced to idle some state factories while turning off the lights and air conditioners in many government office buildings, banks, retail stores and other businesses. Officials have hinted at even more strict conservation methods will be imposed throughout 2010.
Chavez has experimented with similar measures, ordering some public institutions to close at 1 p.m. and partially shutting down state-run steel and aluminum plants. Officials also are installing tens of thousands of energy-saving light bulbs imported from Cuba.
Cuba is already aiding Venezuela in a cloud-seeding effort the government hopes will ease the drought.
Valdes, who fought alongside Fidel and Raul Castro to topple dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, is a former interior minister and current minister of communications. For more than a decade, he ran Cuba's Electronic Group, overseeing technology projects and skirting the U.S. trade embargo by importing tons of equipment into Cuba through third-party nations.
Lopez said the electricity crisis should be resolved by Venezuelans and not Cuba's vice president. ''I don't think that Mr. Valdez is the most suitable for the job because of what's he's done in Cuba is impose rationing,'' he said ''He's not en expert in investment, maintenance and production.''
Chavez downplayed the criticism as something he expects from his opponents, saying: ''Whenever Cubans come here, the counter-revolutionary fury immediately explodes.''CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- President Hugo Chavez has turned to his friends in Cuba for... more
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There are many projects across Japan, U.S and Europe that are trying to perfection the manipulation of plasma and thereby accelerate its energy output. The solution is believed to be in the six-dollar reactor known constructed in the “ITER” project. However, ITER project is still very much in a state of work-in-progress, and commercialization of the technology is not expected within a decade.
Sight of Plasma
Jerome Pamela, project manager of a fusion machine called the Joint European Torus, or JET, at Britain’s Culham Science Center is certain that they will be able to ignite the plasma. The constraint that remains problematic is to convey the transition of plasma into usable energy. A possible solution is to use a particular magnetic field to control plasma once it is heated up to around 10 million degrees Celsius. It is a temperature sufficient to produce plasma but not to initiate a fusion.
An experiment to see the plasma can last for 0.25 seconds. It is quite disappointing to see it live. It is like a ghost in a library but with an enormous amount of energy. It has energy similar to solar, biomass, fission and wind.
http://www.renewablepowernews.com/archives/927There are many projects across Japan, U.S and Europe that are trying to perfection the... more
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China becomes the largest energy consumer in the world
China's development as an industrialised country means that this soaring energy demand will continue for some time to come.* Its economic growth has led to a massive increase in the production of cars, trucks and other vehicles, not to mention buildings and infrastructure (which includes almost one new power plant every week).
The 21st century began with the United States as the sole superpower in the absence of the Soviet Union, with China becoming a potential superpower.
A new set of crises would emerge in the 2020s. As oil demand began to exceed supply, full-scale conflict erupted in the Middle East.
http://www.futuretimeline.net/21stcentury/2010-2019.htm#somaliaChina becomes the largest energy consumer in the world
China's development as... more
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As reported by China View, China is also in the race, and plans to put a man Moon by 2017. One of the goals of the mission will be to measure the thickness of the lunar soil and the amount of helium-3 on the Moon. There have also been reports that India, Japan and Germany are taking an interest in lunar exploration linked to helium-3 as a potential future nuclear fuel.
http://www.explainingthefuture.com/helium3.htmlAs reported by China View, China is also in the race, and plans to put a man Moon by... more
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Helium-3 is a very rare gas with the potential to fuel clean nuclear fusion power plants. However, one of the problems is that the nearest supply of helium-3 is on the Moon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94rEqHP9dOQ&feature=channelHelium-3 is a very rare gas with the potential to fuel clean nuclear fusion power... more
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The Chinese, too, apparently believe that helium-3 from the moon can enable fusion plants on Earth. This fall, the People's Republic expects to orbit a satellite around the moon and then land an unmanned vehicle there in 2011.
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/19296/?a=f&FB=TThe Chinese, too, apparently believe that helium-3 from the moon can enable fusion... more
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