Just so you know this is important, I am breaking into my queue to alert you- and everyone you know- about this breaking news. It is yet another means that our society gets corrupted. We- you and me- have to stop this- to protect our youth- and our adults.
Continue reading Stop- in the name of love!
We reported yesterday about Dr. Bretschger’s (J. Craig Venter Institute) MFC (microbial fuel cells) to recover energy from wastewater. Today, we’ll discuss a slightly different version, under development at Penn State University and for which results were recently published in Science.
Continue reading Energy from sewage- revisited
I have written before about the military’s push for alternative energy sources. Not necessarily because they want to be innovative, but for purely logistical reasons. The need to get power to the troops- often within the enemy confines, which adds the danger of attack to the delivery requirements. Which is why there now is an Assistant Secretary for Operational Energy in the Department of Defense [DOD] hierarchy. (Shannon Burke assumed this position in 2010.)
Continue reading Unconventional energy is what our military forces need
One of the big problems with our energy needs is that the fluctuations require us to build much larger plants to handle the peak demands. Which means that the plant cannot operate efficiently. (It is best to have any plant running at the same rate all the time.) Or, some have chosen to build a contiguous, smaller facility they can‘rev up’ to handle the peak demands. The problem with the second, smaller plant- even if it runs on natural gas- is the time it takes the facility to ramp up or down to handle those peak demands.
Continue reading So it can keep on going, and going, and going…
Most of you know that I believe we need to develop alternative energy sources. That does not make me an apologist for the cause; simple a recognition of the facts as they exist.
Continue reading Solar powered cell phones- NOT
I’ve blogged about ethanol before (and I’m sure I will again). My last discussion was in response to the movie “Freedom”. (By the way, the filmmakers promised to send a reply and never did.) I believe we need to develop alternative sources for our energy needs- for balance of payments issues, for security issues, and for improving our economy (jobs).
Continue reading Grain alcohol
You know that commercial- the one GM killed (in more ways than one)- that this car is not your father’s Oldsmobile? Well, this is not your father’s solar energy, either.
Continue reading Have Sun- Get Power? What about a synthetic sun?
The end of an era. The news claims it started 30 years ago. The era of shuttle flights. But, really, the first shuttle’s genesis started when I entered college in 1968, or when President Nixon signed the bill approving its development and construction in 1971. And, the water system development happened in mid-70s. But, this discussion really isn’t about the space shuttle.
Continue reading The end of an era? What it really means!
Converting Honest to Goodness Solid Waste to Methane. Been there and done that-in the 70s. Pyrolysis of waste. Been there and done that too. Both of those were large scale designs, not for use in our homes. Continue reading Coming soon to a home near you…
