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Mick Petroff
In the Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia, between September and November, an extraordinary phenomenon of unparalleled beauty: the morning glory cloud.
If the weather situation is calm, every morning when the sun rises, a wave-shaped cloud, 1.6 to 3.2 kilometres high and 600 to 1,000 kilometres, ie, that it fills the horizon, moving at a speed of 40 kilometres per hour. (more…)
This is an electric scooter made with a used car battery (junk yard $20) and two electric car heater fan motors (junk yard $10). Wheels, brakes and steering components were taken from kids bikes bought at Salvation Army for $5 each. Throttle response is a PWM from ebay ($50). Yep, entire project was under $100.
Then there is the drill bike! Pretty nice looking and unique bike. (more…)
Petrol is running out, diesel hasn’t got too long left and fossil fuels, in general, are on death’s door. Whether we like it or not, we have to look at alternative and green fuels for the future – otherwise, we’ll all burn to a crisp and the South-American dingo bat will definitely die. So what do we do? What technologies and fuels have been overlooked over the years? Are we still being naïve about certain fuel sources or should we just continue on the same path? (more…)
The U.S. Department of Energy today issued the following statement in support of the commissioning of the world’s first tri-generation fuel cell and hydrogen energy station to provide transportation fuel to the public and electric power to an industrial facility, located at the Orange County Sanitation District’s wastewater treatment plant in Fountain Valley, California. The fuel cell commissioned today is a combined heat, hydrogen, and power system that co-produces hydrogen in addition to electricity and heat, making it a tri-generation system. The hydrogen produced by the system is sent to a hydrogen fueling station that will be open to the public and can support between 25 and 50 fuel cell electric vehicle fill-ups per day. The fuel cell also produces approximately 250 kW of power for use by the wastewater treatment plant. This on-site approach to hydrogen production advances hydrogen infrastructure technologies that will accelerate the use of this renewable fuel.
“Innovations like this demonstrate how American ingenuity and targeted investment can accelerate breakthroughs in the hydrogen and fuel cell industry while driving the clean energy economy forward,” said DOE’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Renewable Energy Steve Chalk. “By providing the added value of electricity and heat, this approach provides a significant step in overcoming economic challenges with hydrogen refueling infrastructure.”
Background Information
The Fountain Valley tri-generation fuel cell and hydrogen energy station uses biogas from the municipal wastewater treatment plant as the fuel for a fuel cell. The system is integrated with a hydrogen purification system to recover approximately 100 kg of hydrogen per day. The project was developed as a partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy, California Air Resources Board, the Orange County Sanitation District, and private industry. The project is managed by Air Products and additional partners include FuelCell Energy, Inc. and the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine.
The Fountain Valley fuel cell system could offer a pathway to low-cost hydrogen and also demonstrates the versatility of fuel cells to utilize multiple feedstocks, such as biogas and natural gas, to produce power and renewable hydrogen that can be used to fuel light duty vehicles such as forklifts or as backup power in applications such as cell phone towers. Primarily running on biogas, the system can also use natural gas to sustain a consistent feedstock in the case of any disruption in biogas availability or quality.
DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy invests in clean energy technologies that strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and reduce dependence on foreign oil. Find out more about DOE’s support of research, development and deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.
All counties in Texas are in burn ban mode due to heat wave!It has been so hot here in Texas, that all heat records are being broken. Not only day by day but consecutive days over 100 degrees! Currently, in East Texas, we have had 41 consecutive days of over 100 degrees and still counting. The hottest has been 112 and let me tell ya, this little RV’s a/c cannot handle that level of heat!
This heat is also affecting every facet of life on this state. The electric companies are starting up old power stations to handle the load on the grid. Many pleas are going out over the news networks to shut down everything that is not essential during the hours of 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. (i.e. lights, tvs, etc.). No watering of lawns which are dead anyway. Those who are trying to save their lawns may be burning them up by watering in the afternoon which is like placing a magnifying glass on each blade thus the burn mode. There are so many water pipes breaking across the state that until they are fixed folks need to boil their water.
The animals are suffering. For instance, deer are abandoning their young due to not being able to produce milk and/or keep themselves hydrated. Racoons look pretty scrawny and are raiding dog and cat dishes to keep themselves alive.
(Nacogdoches PD)
NASA has confirmed that a spherical artifact found in a drying lake in Nacogdoches (Lake Nacogdoches) was part of space shuttle Columbia, which broke up over Texas in 2003 when its heat shield failed.
The tank was part of the shuttle’s electrical power system which as the name suggests consists of the equipment and reactants that produce electrical power for distribution throughout the orbiter.
Speaking of lakes… Most boat launches are closed due to the drying up of the lakes. They tend to drop off past the concrete. Not good.
The firefighters are really busy for the grass fires that were accidently started or some idiot decided he needed to burn his trash and created an out of control grass fire. Needless to say, he got fined.
A drought has left the OC Fisher Reservoir in San Angelo State Park in West Texas almost entirely dry. The water that is left is stagnant, full of dead fish — and a deep, opaque red.
So, is it bad? Yes! Hopefully, doing a rain dance here locally will bring thunder storms or just plain ol rain! We need it!
Latest saying – Satan called and he wants his weather back! … as the green future unfolds.
Recently, Australian inventors Tom Trainor and Mark Hutton came up with a product that they claim uses up to 90% less water than a regular toilet. The EVOLUTE is still in the development phase, and is not expected to be available to the public until 2012.
Not a bad idea, eh? I think these guys will be very successful!
NASA
Now, 30 years later, the shuttle has come to its end of life in the NASA Space Program. It does not seem like its been 3 decades , 135 flights and of course, many deliveries to the International Space Station.
The spaceship and the two other surviving shuttles will become museum pieces, like the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules and the Wright brothers’ flying machine before them. NASA astronauts, a dwindling breed, will have to hitch rides to the space station aboard Russian Soyuz capsules for at least three to five years.
National Geographic
Shuttles launched the Hubble Space Telescope and fixed its blurry vision; built the space station, the world’s largest orbiting structure; and opened the final frontier to women, minorities, schoolteachers, even a prince. The first American to orbit the Earth, John Glenn, became the oldest person ever in space, thanks to the shuttle. He was 77 at the time; he turned 90 this week.
Atlantis will go on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex in 2013. Space shuttle Discovery is headed for a Smithsonian Institution hangar in Virginia. And Endeavour is bound for the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
NASA has new marching orders for space exploration and I look forward to seeing their progress. In the meantime, BRAVO for the work accomplished thus far! 
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