Current Green Team // Current

THE GREAT RACE, THE HUMAN RACE, AN ADVENTURE UNDER WAY.

Would any of you like to form a usefull group? I have some ideas I think would be usefull to get something together, just a... more

gentjim
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Read an Excerpt From 'Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes'

Mark Penn is Sen. Hillary Clinton's, D-N.Y., chief strategist, and he's been called "the most important man in... more

jessilee23
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WHAT IS COURAGE...???

People have told me, I have great courage, i don't see it that way, I am not afraid of the unknown, I can only be... more

gentjim
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" The Great Peace"

I believe in humanity, I believe the ingredients for world change lies ready with in humanity now..!!! all though, i... more

gentjim
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I just got in from a month long bike trip to Alaska. 11600 miles.

a friend of mine from Texas, a felow traveler.

gentjim
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Bring nature close

This web site gives you the unique perspective of sustainable living by a highly qualified lady, my mother. She has been living... more

gentjim
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New rays of hope for solar power's future

From five miles away, the Nevada Solar One power plant seems a mirage, a silver lake amid waves of 110 degree F. desert heat. Driving nearer, the rippling image morphs into a sea of mirrors angled to the sun.

As the first commercial “concentrating solar power” or CSP plant built in 17 years, Nevada Solar One marks the reemergence and updating of a decades-old technology that could play a large new role in US power production, many observers say.

“Concentrating solar is pretty hot right now,” says Mark Mehos, program manager for CSP at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Co. “Costs look pretty good compared to natural gas [power]. Public policy, climate concern, and new technology are driving it, too.”

Spread in military rows across 300 acres of sun-baked earth, Nevada Solar One’s trough-shaped parabolic mirrors are the core of this CSP plant – also called a “solar thermal” plant. The mirrors focus sunlight onto receiver tubes, heating a fluid that, at 735 degrees F., flows through a heat exchanger to a steam generator that supplies 64 megawatts of electricity to 14,000 Las Vegas homes.

Today the United States has 420 megawatts of solar-thermal capacity across three installations – including Nevada Solar One. That’s just a tiny fraction (less than 1 percent) of US grid capacity. But Nevada Solar One could signal the start of a CSP building boom.

Efforts to generate another 4,500 megawatts of solar thermal power are now in development across California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico – all of which have the flat, near-cloudless skies most desirable for solar thermal, the Solar Electric Industries Association reports.

Photovoltaic panels that produce electricity directly from the sun’s rays work well on rooftops, but are still too costly for utility-scale power generation. Solar thermal, however, is nearing the cost of a natural gas-fired turbine power plant – making it a winner with several power companies that have signed long-term contracts to purchase solar-thermal power.
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We all need to demand this now, and we need to tell Congress, especially Senate Republicans who vote down tax incentives for renewable energy that they can no longer get away with continuing to put us at risk for their own profit. Republicans in this country, do you not see what those who claim to support you are doing to the future of your children? This should not be a Democratic or Republican issue, this is a human issue and right now we need new, clean, efficient, safer sources of energy not only to wean us off ALL oil, but to provide a better planet for our children, create jobs, and bring peace. Solar power is our future, and it is wonderful to see these strides taking place now.

The solution comes up every morning.From five miles away, the Nevada Solar One power plant seems a mirage, a silver lake amid waves of 110 degree F. desert heat.... more

JanforGore
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26 responses

3 months ago

Student inventor creates £20 wind turbine out of scrap for developing world

When the scrap hits the fan...

jujulian
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25 responses

3 months ago

Vocabulary gets 'greener'

"Electrosmog", "eco-village" and "carbon footprint" are among the new environmental terms which have... more

JanaPokana
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23 responses

4 months ago

Green City Spotlight: Albuquerque, New York, Grand Rapids

Here's the latest in the Green City Spotlight Series. More information in 60-seconds than you ever thought possible!!! ... more

Greenpointer
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9 responses

4 months ago

5 things you didn't know were biofuels

When talk turns to biofuels, it often soon turns to food shortages next. Biofuel doesn't have to be made from food staple... more

MeganMcKenzie
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13 responses

4 months ago

The travelers guide issue # 2

THE NEWS THE NEWS GOES SOME THING LIKE THIS, I FIRE AN IDEA... more

gentjim
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1 response

4 months ago

Ten nobel men

five years ago i was listening to the radio, a doctor in math and sociology, was talking, she said " it only takes ten... more

gentjim
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3 responses

4 months ago

The travelers guide issue #1

_________________introduction______________________ ---This is a introduction to a series of story's, my travels as a ... more

gentjim
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0 responses

4 months ago

16-year-old's video wins peace contest

This summer, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation held its national Swackhamer Disarmament Video Contest. "There are about 27,000... more

goldenways
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22 responses

4 months ago

the travelers guide...

i am going to tell a story , about my search to find truth,and my travels as a homeless person over the last four years, the... more

gentjim
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4 responses

4 months ago

Cars will run on water

"...Hunt spent a year and a half working in his garage before taking his new fuel concept project to college officials who liked what they saw, and funded a lab with all the materials needed to continue the work. Hunt formed the CSC Inventors Club, and was joined by several like-minded students who developed working bench models of his system.

What’s the secret? It's hydrogen gas, extracted from those six gallons of water by plasmatic induction, and fed to the motor as a gas to power the engine. When hydrogen burns, it gives off water, which is fed back to that six gallons; the only thing coming out the tailpipe is hot air. It's all perfectly safe: you'll never re-create the Hindenburg disaster in the car. I know, water in the gas tank, it's been done before but stay with me here…

Can this work? Yes. Jim says they have internal combustion engines running on hydrogen gas produced by the energy conversion system in the lab. In June, the students will retrofit a 1991 Chevy Cheyenne 4×4 pickup to begin road testing the system. First they'll tour the Carl Sandburg campus until they receive permission to operate a non-conventional fuel-powered vehicle on city and state thoroughfares.

Is anyone really interested? Hunt says the program manager of GM’s (that’s General Motors) Fuel Cell Technology Development Division contacted him, requesting more information. In a story from Galesburg’s Register-Mail newspaper, Hunt told reporter John R. Pullium that three Fortune 500 companies have contacted him, along with several investors and possible sponsors. In his latest communication to me, Jim said he’s received inquiries from individuals concerning expanded uses for the system, such as fuel to generate electric power for small communities. "We have started to take on private investors" he said "to help raise money for research and development of our final prototype".

How much would it cost to retrofit your vehicle? Hunt figures about $2000. Will it fit in your car? Sure, he says: just replace your fuel tank with his recovery system, add water and drive away. The only thing you’ll change are some non-lethal carbon rods, about once a year. They’ll cost somewhere in the range of what you’d pay for gasoline in one month of driving.

Will it work? Will he get his patent, and will his dream survive the anticipated onslaught from big oil corporations and other interests who’d rather not see this type of energy generation system take hold? In another Register-Mail article, Hunt is quoted as saying, “I’d like to see the world benefit” and added, “I am fearful of the bad guys in the background.” Today, he feels his future is looking up, happy that he’s apparently managed to break the hydrogen safety barrier. "

here is another link with a radio interview.
http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/04/14/safe-hydrogen-fuel-system-using-water-proven-and-ready/
"...Hunt spent a year and a half working in his garage before taking his new fuel concept project to college officials who... more

taintedview
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57 responses

4 months ago

what about the news, about the news?

why do we not have a conversation about what makes news ? it would be interesting to reflect on what makes news, it is what we... more

gentjim
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0 responses

4 months ago

SF grows garden at Civic Center

San Francisco's ever eco-conscious mayor is turning Civic Center Plaza's central promenade into an organic vegetable... more

hollyg
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1 response

5 months ago

Where is human evolution heading?

"If you judge the progress of humanity by Homer Simpson, Paris Hilton, and Girls Gone Wild videos, you might conclude that our evolution has stalled—or even shifted into reverse...

But last December, [John Hawks, a professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin] reported that it has actually accelerated 100-fold in the past 5,000 to 10,000 years... Much of the increase, he says, has been fueled by the growth of the world's population, which has expanded by a factor of 1,000 over the past 10,000 years. Having more people increases the odds of mutations...

Humans will continue to change to cope with new diseases, if history is any guide. Genes that defend against infectious disease have been among the most rapidly evolving parts of the human genome. People whose ancestors lived in European cities are more likely to have some resistance to smallpox, while people in sub-Saharan Africa are more likely to be genetically resistant to malaria. Just weeks ago, researchers reported that one genetic variant that protects against malaria also makes people more susceptible to AIDS, a discovery that could lead to tailored treatment for AIDS in Africa...

The human brain, which has evolved into a cognitive machine unique in the world, is likely to change even more in the future... Take that souped-up brain and put it in the texting, Twittering, 24-7 world we've recently created for ourselves, and it's easy to imagine that we will become superspeedy multitaskers—or more complacent cubicle dwellers... Genetic engineering will help short term, [Nick Bostrom, a professor at the University of Oxford and cofounder of the World Transhumanist Association] says, and then nanotechnology will step in, altering the biochemistry of the human body at the flip of a switch...

Notwithstanding the obstacles, Bostrom's wish list for improved human traits includes a longer "health span," with fewer years of human life spent struggling against cancer, heart disease, and dementia. Enhanced cognitive abilities would be nice, too. "Perhaps physical attractiveness would be a popular trait," he says.

The next step: children with genes from three parents... Earlier this year, researchers at Newcastle University in England deliberately created human embryos that had DNA from one father and two mothers, in order to avoid the risk of a mitochondrial disease from the original mother.

But it's too early to lie awake worrying that genetically manipulated superkids are going to ace your grandkids out of varsity soccer, says Thomas Murray, a bioethicist and president of the Hastings Center. "Our capacity to do these kinds of intentional designs is vastly overrated." But, he says, it's not too early to start thinking about what's really important about being a parent. The traits that people most value, Murray says—being smart, being kind, being a successful competitor—are the ones least likely to be determined by a few tweakable genes. For that kind of control over the next generation, it still takes good old-fashioned nurturing, teaching, and love.""If you judge the progress of humanity by Homer Simpson, Paris Hilton, and Girls Gone Wild videos, you might conclude that... more