Category: Breaking news


From Russia, with Love

Filed under: Breaking news — Leave a comment
June 11, 2012

The Hill published a story today about a Russian defense firm that is supporting an Iranian missile program.

That headline may seem disturbing from a vague “the world is getting smaller” perspective. Well, it’s getting even smaller.

Rosoboronexport, the Russian arms company, is also under contract with the US Department of Defense (DoD) to supply Mi-17 helicopters to Afghan security forces.

DoD officials could cut off Rosoboronexport, as some in power have urged. Among the “some in power” is Sen. John Cornyn, who sent a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, demanding that the DoD end its multimillion-dollar contract with Rosoboronexport.

Sen. Cornyn said the Pentagon’s business dealings with the firm hurt the US and international diplomatic and economic efforts to remove Syrian President Bashar Assad from power.

Syria? Wait. I thought you said Iran!

I did. In addition to supporting Iran’s missile program, Rosoboronexport provided weapons to Syrian forces loyal to President Assad. Those weapons were used to massacre anti-government rebels fighting to overthrow Assad, an end result that the US openly favors.

Sen. Cornyn’s letter said Rosoboronexport’s actions, “warrant the renewal of U.S. sanctions against it, not a billion-dollar DoD contract”.

The problem is, the consequences of taking such action against the company would cost the US troops crucial Mi-17 supplies, which would significantly delay US training of Afghan forces …

…which would adversely affect the capability of the Afghan military…

… which is a critical element in the White House plan to bring all American troops home from Afghanistan by 2014.

 

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$1Billion Ghost Town

Filed under: Alternative Energy Sources, Biomass, Breaking news, Environmental Issues, Health Issues, Renewable Energy, solar energy for mobile devices, Solar Energy Technology, Solar Thermal, Uncategorized, Wind Turbine Technology — Leave a comment
May 9, 2012

According to this AP via Yahoo News story, $1 billion ghost town is planned for a 15-square mile area in Lea County, near Hobbs, New Mexico. The goal is to provide a safe location for research projects for next-generation applications.

Sam Cobb, Hobbs Mayor, said the research facility will look just like an empty city about the size of Rock Hill, South Carolina, but will literally be a city without residents.

The town will contain highways, houses and commercial buildings and facilities. Structures will be a combination of old and new, just like any other populated area. While nobody will live there, they could.

Homes will be fitted with all appliances, heating and air conditioning, and plumbing. This way, new technologies of all kinds can be tested in real-world conditions, without disturbing the everyday lives of citizens.

While some researchers are busy testing a new renewable energy technology against existing-technology power grids, other researchers can examine a new smart street-signal system designed to work with self-driving cars, also under test.

Simultaneously, other testers could be indoors collecting data on a new toilet technology design that flushes by the power of human thought. Just wanted to see if you were paying attention…

Environmental and health issues of certain tecnhologies could be examined without fear of harming the town’s citizens. The only thing that apparently won’t be done in the $1 Billion ghost town is destructive testing. At least not intentionally. They hope.

Ground-breaking is planned by the end of June of 2012, with an initial development cost of $400 million. It is believed that the project could create 350 permanent jobs and about 3,500 indirect jobs as part of design, development, construction, and maintenance operations.

The benefits could be even greater, based on the use of the scientific ghost town. Hobbs airport hopes to expand on its number of daily flights to/from Houston, and is working toward securing service to Albuquerque and Denver, and perhaps other cities.

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It’s Alive! It’s Alive!

Filed under: Alternative Energy Sources, And now for something completely different, Breaking news, Health Issues — 1 Comment
March 13, 2012

@Solarfeeds published a story this morning that may give entirely new definitions to recycling and biofuels.

For decades, silicon has been a primary ingredient in semiconductor and transistor technology; however, new nano-sized semiconductors rely on something more organic: proteins found inside the human body.

Tel Aviv University (TAU) researchers have created a new generation of protein-based transistors which are flexible, biodegradable, and less harmful to the environment during the manufacturing process.

In the past, semiconductor manufacturers have carved out circuitry from single sheets of silicon, a process which limits size and flexibility of the product. TAU researchers have combined blood, milk and mucus proteins, and observed on a molecular level as these materials naturally self-assemble into semi conducting film. Together, the proteins help each other make a complete circuit.

Blood proteins absorb oxygen, helping to form a vacuum. Milk proteins grow fiber formations, which then serve as natural building blocks for transistors. Mucus proteins maintain the critical separation of the red, green and blue fluorescent dyes, which combine to form white light required to energize displays and other optics.

I’m not sure of the implications of integrating biohazardous material into devices we touch and press against our faces, but maybe by the time this technology matures, these nano devices will be embedded beneath our flesh, coded with our DNA to prevent surgical identity theft, and auto-powered by our own blood flow and secretions. Can’t wait!

Our parents were right. We need plenty of protein in our diet. We may be required as fuel one day!

 

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Blue Creek Sees Green

Filed under: Breaking news, Renewable Energy, Wind Turbine Technology — Leave a comment
March 6, 2012

CleanTechnica.com’s “Blue Creek Wind Farm Completed” story today says that Iberdrola has finished construction on this massive renewable energy project in Ohio.

How massive?

Iberdrola’s Blue Creek Wind Farm fact sheet lists the advertised wind energy capacity as 350 megawatts (MW) generated from 175 2.0 MW wind turbines. The CleanTechnica article states the actual capacity is more like 304 MW from 152 turbines.

Disappointing? Not exactly.

According to the story, the largest wind farm in the world generates 350 MW of wind energy, and the world’s 2nd largest is 150 MW.

So Blue Creek falls just short, taking over 2nd place on the world’s wind farm capacity list.

Of course, that is not what’s important. Five hundred local constructions workers had full-time employment building the project. Permanent jobs now exist for wind farm maintainers and operators in Ohio’s Van Wert and Paulding counties.

And FirstEnergy Solutions has signed a power purchase agreement for 100 MW over the next 20 years.

I haven’t asked them, but I’m guessing all of these people are OK with Blue Creek being merely the 2nd largest wind farm in the world.
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Two new renewable energy projects approved

Filed under: Breaking news, Renewable Energy — 3 Comments
December 20, 2011

Just another quick post from one of our Twitter feeds:

Associated Press (Matthew Daly) is reporting that the Obama administration is boosting renewable energy on both coasts, including projects on public lands in the West and offshore wind projects in the Atlantic Ocean.

US Dept. of Interior has approved two new projects, a 300-megawatt solar farm to be located southwest of Phoenix, Arizona, and a 200-megawatt wind farm in Southern California, east of San Diego.

The majority of the wind farm’s power would be produced on federal lands. These two new projects are the 24th and 25th renewable energy projects approved for public lands in the past two years.

Dept. of Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, said, these projects will produce the equivalent clean energy of “nearly 18 coal-fired power plants”. He also called what’s happening, “nothing short of a renewable energy revolution”.

We’ll see…

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