Disinformation » Energy

Newt Gingrich Is Right About Having A Permanent Moon Base

ralph — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:19:35 +0000

Yes, “Gingrich” and “right” in the same sentence is very strange: Saturday Night Live managed to successfully mock this derided idea in a recent well received sketch (which I thought was reminiscent of that show’s style from the ’70s). Here is a differing perspective presented by Robert T. Gonzalez on io9.com:

Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has promised us a permanent Moon base by 2020. Many people have been calling Newt’s vow a publicity stunt, while others have chimed in by attacking the idea of a lunar base in and of itself, with assertions like “real scientists know [a Moon base] is fantasy.” We won’t speak to Newt’s political maneuverings, but we’re sure as hell not going to sit idly by while people bash the feasibility or scientific potential of a lunar settlement. In fact, we’ve got 185 reasons we should set a course straight away …

An Off-World Energy Source: We spoke to astrophysicist Michael Shara — curator of the astrophysics department at the American Museum of Natural History — about the scientific potential of a permanent Moon base, and one of the first things to come up was lunar resource utilization.

“Lunar geology is in its infancy,” he explained. “Helium 3 and rare earth element mining would be a major industry.” What is Helium-3? Remember the stuff they were mining in Duncan Jones’ Moon? That was helium-3 — a non-radioactive isotope of helium with huge potential in nuclear fusion research and alternative energy applications. Yes it really exists, yes it really is rare on Earth, and yes it really could make a one-way-trip to the Moon totally worth it. Not only would it make for a great off-world alternative energy source, it would also provide on-site support for expansion and development on the Moon itself.

Read More from Robert T. Gonzalez on io9.com

Andrea Rossi’s E-Cat Cold Fusion

phunkychic666 — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 13:28:12 +0000

Sterling D. Allan reports on the Energy Catalyzer (also called E-Cat), a purported cold fusion or Low-Energy Nuclear Reaction (LENR) heat source built by inventor Andrea Rossi. Temper your enthusiasm in the knowledge that his website, Pure Energy Systems News, has a business relationship with Mr. Rossi:

This past week saw at least 80 stories on the web, 4 from mainstream news, regarding Andrea Rossi’s E-Cat powered by LENR or cold fusion. The hottest theme was Rossi’s assertion that he is in discussion with Home Depot to distribute 1 million home heat units this Autumn for less than $2,000 USD. Reality will probably dictate a longer time-line.

Once again we bring you a compilation of various news items about Andrea Rossi’s E-Cat that have emerged since our December 22 compilation.

Sources

Dedicated

E-CatWorld 8

ECatNews 7

ECatInfo 5 [v]

NickelPower 3 done

BuyECat 4

AndreaRossiECat 5

ECatReport 4

RossiEnergyCatalyzers 4

ECatPatent 4 [v]

ECatMotor 5 [v]

E-CatSite 2

ECatHome 5

ECatPlants 5

ECatFusion 3 [v]

RossiFocardiFusion 1

EnergyCatalyzer3 1

EnergyCatalyzer.blogspot 1

Non-Dedicated

PESN 6

ColdFusion3 2

Forbes 1

Wired 1

HinduBusinessLine 1

GreenMe.it 1

GreenStyle.it 1

InformationFarm blog 1…

[continues at Pure Energy Systems News]

Solar Paint Your House With Nanoparticles

Good German — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 09:07:52 +0000

This paste of cadmium sulfide-coated titanium dioxide nanoparticles could turn large surfaces into solar cells. (Credit: ACS Nano)

Via ScienceDaily:

Imagine if the next coat of paint you put on the outside of your home generates electricity from light — electricity that can be used to power the appliances and equipment on the inside. A team of researchers at the University of Notre Dame has made a major advance toward this vision by creating an inexpensive “solar paint” that uses semiconducting nanoparticles to produce energy.

“We want to do something transformative, to move beyond current silicon-based solar technology,” says Prashant Kamat, John A. Zahm Professor of Science in Chemistry and Biochemistry and an investigator in Notre Dame’s Center for Nano Science and Technology (NDnano), who leads the research.

“By incorporating power-producing nanoparticles, called quantum dots, into a spreadable compound, we’ve made a one-coat solar paint that can be applied to any conductive surface without special equipment.”…

Strange Growth on Nuclear Waste Might Be “Biological in Nature”

HAL9000 — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 20:44:35 +0000

Rob Pavey reports in the Augusta Chronicle:

Savannah River Site scientists are working to identify a strange growth found on racks of spent nuclear fuel collected from foreign governments.

The “white, string-like” material was found among thousands of spent fuel assemblies submerged in deep pools within the site’s L Area, according to a report filed by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, a federal oversight panel.

“The growth, which resembles a spider web, has yet to be characterized, but may be biological in nature,” the report said. Savannah River National Laboratory collected a small sample in hopes of identifying the mystery lint — and determining whether it is alive …

Global Carbon Emissions Reach Record 10 Billion Tons

Good German — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 06:34:24 +0000

Via ScienceDaily:

Global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have increased by 49 per cent in the last two decades, according to the latest figures by an international team, including researchers at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia.Published December 4 in the journal Nature Climate Change, the new analysis by the Global Carbon Project shows fossil fuel emissions increased by 5.9 per cent in 2010 and by 49 per cent since 1990 — the reference year for the Kyoto protocol.

On average, fossil fuel emissions have risen by 3.1 per cent each year between 2000 and 2010 — three times the rate of increase during the 1990s. They are projected to continue to increase by 3.1 per cent in 2011.

Total emissions — which combine fossil fuel combustion, cement production, deforestation and other land use emissions — reached 10 billion tonnes of carbon* in 2010 for the first time. Half of the emissions remained in the atmosphere, where CO₂ concentration reached 389.6 parts per million. The remaining emissions were taken up by the ocean and land reservoirs, in approximately equal proportions.

Dead People Power: UK Crematorium to Sell Power for National Grid

bluemana — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 11:19:53 +0000

Jasper Copping reports in the Telegraph:

Durham Crematorium wants to install turbines in two of its burners, which would use the heat generated during the cremation process to provide the same amount of electricity as would power 1,500 televisions.

A third burner is to be used to provide heating for the site’s chapel and its offices. The scheme would be the first of its kind in the UK but industry experts say that it could be followed by other similar projects.

Many crematoria are currently replacing their furnaces, to meet government targets on preventing mercury emissions from escaping into the atmosphere. Up to 16 per cent of all mercury emitted in the UK comes from crematoria because of fillings in teeth. Left unchecked, that figure is predicted to rise to 25 per cent by 2020.

Used Cooking Oil: A Hot Property Black Market Item

SpaceNeedle — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 20:55:08 +0000

Natt Garun writes in Gizmodo:

People resort to the black market for all sorts of stolen goods: cellphones, watches, cars, babies. But used cooking oil? According to the Washington Post, that’s a thing too.

Thieves are now moving into the green market by stealing used cooking oil from the back of restaurants. They sell the sludge to recyclers, who then process it into biodiesel. The oil can go for as much as $4 per gallon on the down low.

Since this is a pretty new criminal enterprise, police aren’t entirely sure what to do with the perps — or how to stop the theft from happening. In some states it’s a misdemeanor. Meanwhile in Virginia, two men caught greaselifting were charged with grand larceny. Serves you right for those sticky, err, slippery fingers.

What’s The Real Reason Why The Occupy Wall Street Protesters Weren’t Kicked Out Of Zuccotti Park?

Join Or DIE — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:15:50 +0000

Zuccotti Park, pre-Occupation. Photo: Tony (CC)

Is this it? Robert Johnson writes in Business Insider:

Coming on the heels of the Solyndra debacle, the Obama administration has just approved a $168.9 million loan guarantee for the Granite Reliable wind farm project owned by Brookfield Management BAM).

Among its many holdings BAM owns Brookfield Renewable Power, which owns the Granite Reliable and it also owns Brookfield Office Properties, whose holdings include the now famous Zuccotti Park.

The Department of Energy finalized the loan guarantee less than a week after Occupy Wall Street protesters took to Zuccotti Park, and with the Obama administration’s Tuesday endorsement of the protests, rumors are starting to circulate that this could be the reason Brookfield is allowing protesters to remain on its property.

A Post-Fossil Fuel World?

Jin_TheNinja — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:25:54 +0000

New Scientists reviews Robert Laughlin’s new book about the future of energy…

Starting with the premise that we’ll eventually stop using fossil fuels, Robert Laughlin imagines the energy sources of tomorrow

Robert Laughlin, a Nobel laureate for his work in quantum physics, starts his study of our energy futures with an absurd proposition — that it doesn’t matter much whether we burn all our coal and oil or leave it underground.

It’s a cop-out, of course. If we burn all the coal, we would probably burn too. But for the purposes of Powering the Future, it means “we don’t have to analyze contemporary energy struggles”. Instead, he moves swiftly on to imagine what a world that does not burn carbon might look like.

He likes nuclear best, and fast breeder reactors in particular, because they will extend the lifetime of available nuclear fuel to “about 20,000 years”. But he also has a soft spot for solar energy, especially solar thermal energy, which uses mirrors in the desert to heat pipes full of liquid. Deployed in the Mojave desert in south-eastern California, he says, the technique could make Los Angeles “the world’s first great solar city”.

Laughlin sees a “coming conflict” between nuclear and solar energy for global supremacy. Ever the physicist, he points out that the two are fundamentally the same thing, since “the sun is really just a big nuclear reactor in the sky”. But he figures nuclear will win, because the sun’s energy is too spread out by the time it reaches us. Catching its rays on a huge scale needs far too much land to be practical.

First Nations Oppose Tar Sands Pipeline

Jin_TheNinja — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 23:03:33 +0000

Native Activists have been on the front lines opposing the Alberta Tar Sands for years. Native Canadians have frequently borne the brunt of industrial pollution, particularly in Northern Canada. How will the new proposed Keystone XL pipeline affect Native communities both in the US and Canada? Colorlines explains:

In hopes that action would discourage President Barack Obama from permitting an extension to the Canadian Keystone pipeline — also known as the “Keystone XL” — a group of First Nations and American Indian activists protested in front of the White House on Friday.

Before being arrested, the protesters insisted that the extension — which will run from Alberta Canada to Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas — will harm ancestral homelands.

“Our Lakota people oppose this pipeline because of the potential contamination of the surface water and of the Oglala aquifer,” said Deb White Plume, a Lakota activist. “We have thousands of ancient and historical cultural resources that would be destroyed across our treaty lands.”

Even the New York Times’ editorial board came out against the pipeline, writing that it was concerned about oil spills along the route and carbon emissions. “[T]he extraction of petroleum from the tar sands creates far more greenhouse emissions than conventional production does,” the board wrote last month.

Niger Delta Villagers Vs. Oil Giant Shell’s Destruction of Their Land

Good German — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 18:56:08 +0000

Once again, unregulated Big Business makes everything better. John Vidal writes in the Guardian:

Goi is now a dead village. The two fish ponds, bakery and chicken farm that used to be the pride and joy of its chief deacon, Barrisa Tete Dooh, lie abandoned, covered in a thick black layer. The village’s fishing creek is contaminated; the school has been looted; the mangrove forests are coated in bitumen and everyone has left, refugees from a place blighted by the exploitation of the region’s most valuable asset: crude oil.

A long-awaited and comprehensive UN study exposed the full horror of the pollution that the production of oil has brought to Ogoniland over the last 50 years.

The UN report showed that oil companies and the Nigerian government had not just failed to meet their own standards, but that the process of investigation, reporting and clean-up was deeply flawed in favour of the firms and against the victims. Spills in the US are responded to in minutes; in the Niger delta, which suffers more pollution each year than the Gulf of Mexico, it can take companies weeks or more.

“Oil companies have been exploiting Nigeria’s weak regulatory system for too long,” said Audrey Gaughran of Amnesty International. “They do not adequately prevent environmental damage and they frequently fail to properly address the devastating impact that their bad practice has on people’s lives.”

Cell Phones Could Soon Be Powered By Walking

Pelliciari — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:50:48 +0000

Photo: csaila (CC)

Katia Moskvitch reports for BBC:

Taking a stroll may soon be enough to re-charge your mobile phone, after US researchers developed a way to generate electricity from human motion.

Placed in a shoe, the device captures the energy of moving micro droplets and converts it into electrical current.

Kinetic charging is already used in some low power devices such as watches and sensors.

The University of Wisconsin team published its study in the journal Nature Communications.

“Humans, generally speaking, are very powerful energy-producing machines,” said Professor Tom Krupenkin from the university’s mechanical engineering department.

“While sprinting, a person can produce as much as a kilowatt of power.”

That, according to the scientists, is more than enough to power a standard mobile phone.

[Continues at BBC News]

It’s Pretty Amazing…

BananaFamine — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 04:11:06 +0000

Statement and art via Maxistentialism:

_____

Is The Internet Polluting The Planet?

JacobSloan — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:33:51 +0000

Is your constant craving for coneing clips hastening the destruction of the world? People tend to think of internet usage as “virtual” or “magic” but, it isn’t so.

YouTube viewing alone pumps thousands of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every day. Computer servers add to worldwide carbon emissions at the same rate as the aviation industry, and Facebook and Apple are powered largely by coal. In fact, I better stop typing right now. Via Hungry Beast:

Media Roots Radio: News Censorship, Nuclear Energy, War & Revolution, 9/11 Truth, Be Your Own Leader

Abby Martin — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 04:01:47 +0000

Via Media Roots Radio::

This episode covers sensationalism in the corporate media about meaningless issues, media censorship about nuclear energy and the terrifying reality of Fukushima, issues surrounding war and US imperialism, the current global democratic revolution and the need for more artists to get involved in politics, Charlie Veitch’s 180 regarding 9/11 and the importance for us to be our own leaders in our quest for truth.

The above timeline is interactive. Scroll through it to find out more about the show’s music and to resources mentioned during the broadcast. To see a larger version of the timeline with clickable resources go to the soundcloud link below the player.

If you would like to directly download the podcast click the down arrow icon on the right of the soundcloud display. To hide the comments to enable easier rewind and fast forward, click on the icon on the very bottom right.

For more information go to www.MediaRoots.org

A Gallon Of Gas Should Cost $15

JacobSloan — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 14:00:46 +0000

We know the approximate price of gas for consumers, but what is the price for society? The external costs borne may be as high as $1.7 trillion per year for the United States alone — that’s from health problems caused by pollution and toxic fumes, damage to crops and plant life, et cetera. The Center for Investigative Reporting calculates $15 per gallon as a reasonable pump price reflecting the true cost of gasoline.

My only complaint: it should be significantly higher still, as they forgot to factor in the huge sums of tax dollars spent on foreign aid and military operations for the benefit of the oil industry:

Confessions Of A Nuclear Power Safety Expert

JacobSloan — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:00:35 +0000

An expert on the safety of nuclear power plants comes to the conclusion that there is simply no such thing as an 100 percent safe nuclear reactor. Via Miller-McCune:

I soon came to the conclusion that neither international cooperation nor technological advancements would guarantee human societies to build and safely run nuclear reactors in all possible conditions on Earth (earthquakes, floods, droughts, tornadoes, wars, terrorism, climate change, tsunamis, pandemics, etc.). I am sadly reminded of this turning point in my life as I listen to the news about the earthquake, tsunami and extremely worrying nuclear crisis in Japan.

When Italy decided in the mid-’70s to add nuclear power to its power portfolio, young mechanical and nuclear engineer Cesare Silvi was among those attracted to the opportunities it presented. His work centered on nuclear safety issues — in particular, what might happen if something unexpected struck a power plant.

Corners he saw cut there eventually soured Silvi on that endeavor. His next position — at the Italian Commission on Nuclear and Alternative Energy Sources, which included work on nuclear disarmament — eventually soured him on nuclear energy itself.

“[If we] continue with nuclear power, there will definitely be worse accidents,” he argued in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi disaster. Over the weekend, Italian voters agreed and overwhelming rejected restarting nuclear power in their country.

“Why not consider Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima as warnings of greater catastrophes to come and avoid the inevitable by shutting them down, much like changing your diet and/or lifestyle after finding out that your cholesterol or blood pressure is elevated, rather than continuing down the same path until a heart attack or stroke strikes?”

“I was looking at low-possibility events, like a meteor striking the housing of a reactor or a car thrown at it by a tornado. These definitely had a small chance of happening, but the end result would have been horrific.” Plus, he says now, the proliferation of nuclear plants just adds more targets.

“Many laughed at such speculation and planning,” he says, “but then again, how many would have taken seriously a recommendation of extending the height of the seawall at Fukishima another six meters? They would have questioned your sanity, if you had argued that the 10-meter barrier was inadequate.

“Our problem is that we don’t know what will happen on any scale of time. Such uncertainty is OK when dealing with train trips or dinner choices. But it becomes problematic when considering the possible spread of very dangerous material that will stay deadly for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.”

“Human history is full of madness, full of catastrophes. Imagine if we had nuclear reactors when we fought wars in the past. If you try to consider all the events that might happen over the years, you start to ask, ‘What are the benefits of such an effort, especially when you have opportunities to get electricity in many other ways?’”

Less than 50 Years of Oil Left, HSBC Warns

BananaFamine — Sat, 21 May 2011 20:33:42 +0000

Recently John Collins Rudolf reported in the New York Times:

The world may have no more than half a century of oil left at current rates of consumption, while surging demand from the developing world threatens to create “very significant price rises” before substitutes like biofuels can serve as viable alternatives, the British bank HSBC warns in a new report.

“We’re confident that there are around 50 years of oil left,” Karen Ward, the bank’s senior global economist, said in an interview on CNBC.

The bank, the world’s second largest in assets, further cautioned that growth trends in developing countries like China could put as many as one billion more cars on the road by midcentury. “That’s tremendous pressure on oil to power all those resources,” Ms. Ward said.

Substitutes, such as biofuels and synthetic oil from coal, could fill the gap if conventional supplies fall short, but only if average oil prices exceed $150 per barrel, the report notes. Increasingly tight global supplies, meanwhile, are likely to cause “persistent and painful” price shocks, it says.

For more information, see original article.

If It’s Not Scottish It’s Crap: Scotland Toasts New Whisky-Powered Bioenergy Plant

vulcan — Thu, 12 May 2011 04:01:24 +0000

Nuff said. More power to alternative energy efforts. Kirsty Scott reports in the Guardian:

It is the spirit that powers the Scottish economy, and now whisky is to be used to create electricity for homes in a new bioenergy venture involving some of Scotland’s best-known distilleries.

Contracts have recently been awarded for the construction of a biomass combined heat and power plant at Rothes in Speyside that by 2013 will use the by-products of the whisky-making process for energy production.

Orlando Uses Sewage To Produce Electricity

Pelliciari — Mon, 09 May 2011 20:57:24 +0000

Photo: wfmillar (CC)

Can poop be turned into power? The city of Orlando has been working with private-industry partners on turning sewage into electricity in an attempt to answer the age-old question: ‘What if you could take sewage and get rid of it cleanly and quickly, without dumping it in rivers or landfills — and generate pollution-free electricity at the same time?’ Orlando Sentinel reports:

Orlando officials think they’ve perfected a technology that has flummoxed scientists for decades — one they hope will be used worldwide to turn sewage into electricity and earn the city tens of millions of dollars in royalties.

If city officials and their private-industry partners are right, it could be the biggest thing in sewage treatment since the flush toilet.

“We call it poop to power in five minutes,” said project consultant Roy Pelletier.

While the five-year, $8.5 million project has drawn little attention locally, a small, experimental test plant off busy Alafaya Trail near the University of Central Florida has drawn visitors from Mexico, Rio de Janeiro, Abu Dhabi, Canada, Europe and elsewhere in recent weeks.

[Continues at Orlando Sentinel]

Could Human Photosynthesis Power The Future?

phunkychic666 — Wed, 04 May 2011 04:45:26 +0000

Chlorophyll. Photo: Wilfredo R. Rodriguez H. (CC)

By Hank Mills for Pure Energy System News:

Dr. Arturo Solis Herrera has developed a technology that utilizes the properties of melanin – the animal analogue to chlorophyll. His melanin based (polihydroxyindol) photo-cell absorbs a broad spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, and converts it into electricity. He has also developed a pharmaceutical claimed to enhance human “photosynthesis” for increased health.

Plants utilize the green pigment chlorophyll to absorb energy from sunlight to breakdown carbon dioxide into sugars. This is well known, and taught in probably every elementary school across the world. What is not as well known, is that the dark colored pigment called melanin found in the skin of humans and other mammals can absorb various types of electromagnetic radiation. In fact, melanin appears capable of absorbing a much broader spectrum of such radiation than chlorophyll. This was proven when scientists noticed various fungi growing in radioactive environments actually seemed to be thriving. Testing of these fungi proved the melanin producing their dark color was absorbing gamma radiation and converting it to energy. The article, ”Ionizing Radiation Changes the Electronic Properties of Melanin and Enhances the Growth of Melanized Fungi” published by Ekaterina Dadachova reviews this discovery.

Long before the above article was published, Mexican researcher Dr. Auturo Solis Herrera (medical surgeon, ophthalmologist, and pharmacologist) of the Human Photosynthesis Study Center was performing research on disorders of the human eye. His team started discovering the importance of the pigment Melanin (known by the chemical name polihydroxyindol) in regards to eye conditions. For some reason, Melanin seemed to protect the tissues of the eye, but his team could not completely understand why the protective effect was taking place. After extracting and applying melanin therapeutically to the eyes of patients, they saw results they claim were impressive.

As time passed it was discovered that melanin was actually collecting energy from electromagnetic radiation, and using it to split water atoms into hydrogen, oxygen, and four additional electrons. This process can also act in reverse. Such a reaction is not exothermic (releasing energy) but endothermic (storing energy). Dr. Auturo Herrera claims that the hydrogen atom is then sent to cells where it can be recombined with oxygen to produce energy (human body version of a fuel cell). The cells can then use this energy to supplement the sugars the body provides them. In this process, melanin acts like a catalyst which promotes the chemical reaction, but is not consumed by it. …

[continues at Pure Energy System News]

Internet Uses More Electricity In U.S. Than Auto Industry

majestic — Tue, 03 May 2011 11:07:23 +0000

The Internet: not so green after all. Steve Hargreaves reports for CNN Money:

The Internet uses more electricity in America than the auto industry uses to make cars and trucks.

Yet despite all the talk about the nation’s aging power grid, utility experts say they can easily handle the additional demand.

In a way, for energy producers, the huge increase in usage by companies like Google and Facebook is a godsend. Electricity demand from many industrial clients has dropped by up to 20% over the last few years, largely due to the recession and greater efficiency.

Tech sector growth “has helped make that decrease not so bad,” said Steve Rosenstock, an engineer at the Edison Electric Institute, the utility trade association.

The electricity needed to power and cool the millions of servers that make the Internet hum has grown by more than 10% a year for the last decade, Rosenstock said. It now accounts for about 2% of all the electricity consumed in the Untied States…

Low Energy Nuclear Reactions: 2.5 Million Watt-Hours From A Nickel?

phunkychic666 — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 19:35:28 +0000

Thomas Blakeslee writing at renewableenergyworld.com:

All existing nuclear plants, and the planned $13 billion ITER hot fusion project, are based on the “atoms for peace” idea of adapting military bomb technology to civilian use. The tens of billions in research dollars that have been spent have clouded the judgment of leaders in the nuclear science community causing irrational denial of the work being done at low energy levels.

The ITER platform in Cadarache, where construction began in 2010 on buildings and facilities. Photo: Altivue.

The disasters in Japan prove that these grandiose attempts to generate power from bomb technology are misguided.

The scientists that perform peer reviews and make up government advisory panels are all recipients of government largess. As a result, promising low energy nuclear work has been driven underground and forced to create its own journals and finance its own research.

Now, from Italy, comes the stunning news that Low Energy Nuclear Reactors (LENR) are, suddenly, a practical reality consistently generating significant power.

Focardi and Rossi recently had a public demonstration of a desktop-sized reactor that produces 11 kW of net power for extended periods of time. Both the fuel and residues are clean and free of radioactivity. The fuel is nickel powder and a tiny amount of hydrogen. A gram of nickel generates 2000 kilowatt-hours in this prototype.

On January 14, 2011 a public demonstration was held at the University of Bologna with about 50 attendees.

The U.S. press totally ignored this momentous event. It had been burned before by the “cold fusion” announcement in Utah an 1998. What most people don’t know is that the declaration that cold fusion was “junk science” was really “junk criticism,” encouraged by powerful interests. Much like the “climate skepticism” of today…

[continues at renewableenergyworld.com]

OPEC Could Reap $1 Trillion This Year

BananaFamine — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 20:25:40 +0000

OPEC Member Countries

Olga Belogolova writes in the National Journal:

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is set to make a record-breaking $1 trillion in export revenues this year if crude oil prices remain above $100 a barrel, an the International Energy Agency official told the Financial Times.

“It would be the first time in the history of OPEC that oil revenues have reached a trillion dollars,” Chief IAEA Economist Fatih Birol told the Financial Times. “It’s mainly because of higher prices and higher production.”

The possibility of a record-breaking year comes as continued unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, engagement in Libya, and signs of an economic recovery renew debate among policymakers over how to deal with rising global oil prices and their ties to national security.

President Obama will weigh in on the issue [on 30 March] when he speaks about his new four-part “Plan for America’s Energy Security” at Georgetown University. And Republicans and oil state Democrats have argued for expanded offshore oil and gas drilling in light of rising prices and foreign oil dependence.

For more information, see original article.

Tesla Sues BBC Over Rigging Electric Car Test

moezilla — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:48:59 +0000

The makers of a popular electric car sued the British Broadcasting Corporation for libel, alleging that they rigged the results in a recent test.

Tesla Motors says the broadcaster faked the car’s running out of power, with the show’s host then announcing “it’s just a shame that in the real world it doesn’t seem to work.”

Tesla also charges “malicious falsehood” for the reporter’s claim that somehow “while it was being charged its brakes had broken,” and for implying that after it overheated it became immobile. In addition, the BBC also reported the car traveled only 55 miles on a single charge instead of 200 (thus implying that Tesla lied about its mileage).

The text of their lawsuit is available as a PDF, while the BBC has issued a statement that they “stand by the programme and will be vigorously defending this claim.”

Nuclear Accidents and All, Coal Is By Far the Deadliest Energy Source

phunkychic666 — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 21:04:20 +0000

Ben Jervey writes on GOOD:

Last week, Nicola wrote about an interactive chart that compared the number of deaths per terawatt-hour that could be attributed to a few major sources of energy. Yesterday, Seth Godin did the world a service by simplifying that rather complicated chart.

This is a “non-exaggerated but simple version” of the original deaths/TWh statistics. Perhaps the most stunning, simple takeaway:

For every person killed by nuclear power generation, 4,000 die due to coal, adjusted for the same amount of power produced.

Godin also mentions this incredibly important point, which cannot be driven home hard enough:

Not included in this chart are deaths due to global political instability involving oil fields, deaths from coastal flooding and deaths due to environmental impacts yet unmeasured, all of which skew it even more if you think about it.

So, actually, it’s even worse. As everyone debates the costs and benefits, the pros and cons, and the feasibility of various energy sources as we try to power our future, we should all remember: coal is dangerous, dirty, and not as “cheap” as advertised.

China Leads The World In Clean Energy

Pelliciari — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 21:43:28 +0000

Photo: Richard Chambers (CC)

One of the most polluted countries has become number one in clean energy. The US ranks number three. The Guardian reports:

China has overtaken the US for the first time in a league table of investments in low-carbon energy among the G-20, according to a new report by not for profit group the Pew Charitable Trusts published this week.

The report found that despite an overall 6.6 per cent global decline in clean energy investments last year, China invested almost twice as much as the United States in clean energy during 2009.

But the US still leads in energy capacity. It’s interesting for the UK too:

• third in overall clean energy investments
• fourth in five-year clean energy investment growth rate
• fifth in the percentage of total power it receives from clean energy sources ahead of France, China and the US

Pee Power Offers Green Energy Alternative

phunkychic666 — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 06:18:32 +0000

Photo: Evert Meijs (CC)

Joanna Zelman writes on the Huffington Post:

Pee Power. It’s not a game created by first grade boys. Rather, it’s a new green technology.

The Guardian reports that Ohio University’s Gerardine Botte has invented a way to create hydrogen fuel from urine. Ammonia and urea, two compounds found in urine, are also a source for hydrogen. Placing an electrode in the wastewater and applying a current creates hydrogen gas.

The company that has commercialized “pee power” is called E3 Clean Technologies. Their “ammonia electrolysis” process is referred to as GreenBox technology. The GreenBox is expected to be ready by the end of next year. The technology will be targeted towards areas with large groups of people, such as city buildings, offices, and stadiums. Botte reports that an office building of about 300 people can generate two kilowatts of power… it’s unclear how much power could be generated if office managers invested in more water coolers.

Beyond generating power, Botte hopes that the new technology will also reduce animal feedlots’ pollution. She estimates that 1,000 cows could generate up to 50 kilowatts of power with their urine.

Physicists Create Heaviest Form of Antimatter Ever Seen

phunkychic666 — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 20:38:34 +0000

Stephen Battersby writes on New Scientist:

A newly created form of antimatter is the heaviest and most complex anti-thing ever seen. Anti-helium nuclei, each containing two anti-protons and two anti-neutrons, have been created and detected at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in Upton, New York.

Anti-particles have the opposite electrical charge to ordinary matter particles (anti-neutrons, which are electrically neutral, are made up of antiquarks that have the opposite charge to their normal quark counterparts). They annihilate on contact with matter, making them notoriously tricky to find and work with. Until recently, the most complex unit of antimatter ever seen was the counterpart of the helium-3 nucleus, which contains two protons and one neutron.

But experiments at RHIC are changing that. RHIC collides heavy atomic nuclei such as lead and gold to form microscopic fireballs, where energy is so densely packed that many new particles can be created.

Japan’s Safety Regulators: Fukushima No. 3 Nuclear Reactor May Have Been Breached

HAL9000 — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 06:39:33 +0000

David Jolly & Hiroko Tabuchi report in the NY Times:

TOKYO — Japan’s effort to contain the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant suffered a setback, an official said on Friday, citing evidence that the reactor vessel of the No. 3 unit may have been damaged.

The development, described at a news conference by Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director-general of the Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, raises the possibility that radiation from the mox fuel in the reactor — a combination of uranium and plutonium — could be released.

One sign that a breach may have occurred in the reactor vessel, Mr. Nishiyama said, took place on Thursday when three workers who were trying to connect an electrical cable to a pump in a turbine building next to the reactor were injured when they stepped into water that was found to be significantly more radioactive than normal in a reactor. The No. 3 unit, the only one of the six reactors at the site that uses the mox fuel, was damaged by a hydrogen explosion on March 14. Workers have been seeking to keep it cool by spraying it with seawater along with a more recent effort to restart the reactor’s cooling system.