November 21st, 2009

American cars giving slightly more miles per gallon

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 4:12 pm

Categories: Blogroll, air pollution, cars & traffic, conservation, energy, engineering, environmental health, federal government, fossil fuel, petroleum

Tags: Car, Emission, Carbon Dioxide, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Harry Fuller

The avergae MPG of cars driven by Americans continues to edge up. According to the EPA, average MPG hit 21 in 2008. It’s up nearly 2 MPG since 2004.

High gas prices and then the cash for clunkers program are expected to keep the MPG moving up this year. CO2 emissions have also been fallling since 2004. That year marked a turnaround in the U.S. The EPA reports CO2 emissions increased and fuel efficiency decreased in the United States from 1987 to 2004.

November 21st, 2009

East Anglia: Chapter 3

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 3:59 pm

Categories: Blogroll, Europe, climate change, environmental health, global warming, law & politics, research

Tags: Theft, Global Warming, Global Warming Skeptic, University, E-mail, Blogging, Online Communications, Internet, Harry Fuller

More projections and extrapolations based on the hacked emails and documents from the University of East Anglia.

A “Wall Street Journal” writer sees the scientists trying to hide data and reject Freedom of Information Act claims.

The global warming skeptics are perfectly happy to overlook the illegality of the hacking and theft of private emails, according to this blogger.

Police are investigating this data theft. The University says it cannot confirm that all the documents are genuine. The University’s public statement says the theft and release of the documents were done to deliberately undermine “the strong consensus that human activity is affecting the world’s climate in ways that are potentially dangerous.”

Copenhagen climate talks begin December 7, but it’s already been conceded that no binding agreement is likely to result from the talks.My first East Anglia blog. The second.

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November 20th, 2009

East Anglia, the next chapter

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 2:00 pm

Categories: Blogroll, Europe, air pollution, climate change, engineering, environmental health, global warming, law & politics, research

Tags: Global Warming, E-mail, Blogging, Online Communications, Internet, Harry Fuller

Earlier today I blogged about the propaganda war that has broken out following the hacking of thousands of emails from the University of East Anglia’s climate study center. Here’s a left-wing British newspaper blog on the words beking flung about. This blogger has read some of the correspondence. Sees little meaningful and lots of missing context.

Yet one blogger sees deception and fraud, at least. Plus a little cruelty when a critic dies and isn’t mourned.

Thie blogger claims to have read the emails. There is no question about the basic science, he claims, but there was definitely the intent to deceive and skew the public message.

Here’s the BBC analysis of the emails that were hacked and the claims made by global warming skeptics about those emails.

Here’s the Fox News version of the story.

Here’s the Wall Street Journal blog. It repeats second-hand info that the emails are all genuine and there are over 3000 files stolen from East Anglia. Not sure this blogger’s surmise that it was stolen by Russian black hats is vaild. But there is much interest in Russia and its rich in keeping the price of oil as high as possible as long as possible. That means any global warming treaty is a business threat to Russia, Saudi, Venezuela, Nigeria, Norway and other oil exporters. But access to a Russian-based server is not limited to Russians, of course.

This is one hack that will have a long-lasting political life. At least through the Copenhagen meeting if not beyond. Copenhagen talks begin December 7.
So far no public statement from the British government which runs University of East Anglia. All publicly-funded universities there are run by the national government. The UK has long been a vocal public advocate of global action against global warming.

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November 20th, 2009

Science of better fuel cells

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 11:58 am

Categories: Blogroll, energy, engineering, green tech, housing, renewable energy, research, water

Tags: Fuel Cell, Fuel Cells, Emerging Technologies, Harry Fuller

An MIT energy and chemistry researcher is working on better ways to produce energy on a personal, household level. His goal: workable fuel cell tech that is efficient. Today he explained on NPR how his group has found a new catalytic process that takes water and through hydrolysis releases hydrogen which is then burned in the fuel cell to produce electricity.

The MIT hydrolysis process uses a catalyst consisting of cobalt metal, phosphate. Then add an electrode.

November 20th, 2009

Hacker scores by posting East Anglia global warming emails

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 10:54 am

Categories: Blogroll, Europe, Kyoto Protocol, Russia, air pollution, climate change, energy, environmental health, global warming, law & politics, research

Tags: Climate Change, E-mail, Hacker, Global Warming, East Anglia File, Harry Fuller, hacking, Copenhagen

A thousand files have been hacked at a British climate study center, and then posted on a Russian Internet server for public access. That server was quickly shut down but parts of the stolen files have been spread on blogs and other websites. East Anglia admits the theft and re-posting but has not confirmed all the material is genuine. There are the equivalent of thousands of pages of text and emails.

A right-wing British newspaper has published a blog praising the hacking and release of emails from a British university’s climate change science program. There are now claims that this is “climategate,” that “warmists” conspired to hide data and rig research conclusions. All this, say those who claim to have access to these files, expose the global warming scientists as liars.

Here’s some of the background: the files allegedly all come from University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit.

That is not an irrelevant place, East Anglia. A researcher there is famous for coming up with the famous temperature climb hockey stick graph. That graph has come under continued attack from global warming doubters. It was featured by Al Gore in his global warming film.

The hacked East Anglia files are being loudly touted by the “don’t-blame-me” folks, those who deny humans are to blame for any of the melting ice sheets, if you even want to believe that ice is melting when you can’t see it yourself.

An American climate scientist says this theft is probably aimed at discrediting climate science prior to next month’s Copenhagen climate change talks.

Meanwhile a criminal investigation is underway to find the hacker.
FOR MORE INFOMATION, MY NEXT BLOG ON THIS MATTER.

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November 19th, 2009

Alcohol and fuel cells in our future?

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 11:21 am

Categories: Blogroll, air pollution, cars & traffic, conservation, energy, engineering, environmental health, fossil fuel, green tech, renewable energy, research, venture capital

Tags: Fuel Cell, Neah Power, Navy, D'Couto, Methaol, Fuel Cells, Emerging Technologies, Harry Fuller

Neah Power, a Seattle-based company, is finding widespread interest in its portable fuel cells. Some of the company’s past research and development was paid for by the Pentagon. The Navy has been especially eager to see Neah’s technology developed. The Neah fuel cells can operate in anaerobic conditions. No air. Can’t do that with gasoline, diesel or even traditional fuel cells.

Other early money for Neah came from Novellus and Intel. The power for portable gear is very attractive to corporations making all manner of remote or portable equipment.

I recently spoke with Neah’s CEO, Chris D’Couto, who’s got a PhD in chemical engineering and an MBA. Right combo, because Neah has a number of chemical processes they intend to patent. And they’re building and selling fuel cells that use methanol for fuel. No Kevlar-reinforced cylinders full of liquid hydrogen. Just simple plastic cartridges with methanol inside. For portable uses, no expensive and heavy lithium-ion batteries with their concomitant ability of exploding on a ship or plane. Just plastic cylinders of methanol. Neah’s goal: better power through chemistry.

D’Couto sees Neah’s tech becoming common across many parts of the economy. The military needs to get those heavy batteries out of the foot soldier’s backpack, and out of ships at sea or airplanes overhead. Neah fuel cells can help run digital technology in remote areas where there’s no electrical grid. Campers, hikers, boaters will use it for many purposes. Already Neah and Hobie are teamed making electrically-powered kayaks. The parts needed for Neah fuel cell on board a kayak.
The Torqueedo. Images courtesy Neah and Hobie.

D’Couto sees easy acceptance of the Neah fuel cells. Methanol is already widely produced and available in the U.S. It is much easier to handle and safer than liquified hydrogen. The chemistry: methanol is CH3OH. When it burns in the fuel cell it produces water, carbon dioxide and a spare electron. That’s the electricity. Neah has developed super-efficient fuel cells, says D’Couto. Neah claims efficiency as much as 2.5 times as great as the traditional fuel cells using pure hydrogen and requiring an constant air supply.

The Neah fuel cells use only miniscule amounts of gold or platinum, the necessary catalysts for breaking down the methane and freeing the hydrogen which gets burned in the fuel cell. D’Couto says they can get down to sub-micron thickness of gold and platinum in their fuel cell design. Important because those metals are expensive. That’s why they are classed as “precious.”

And there’ll be no need for building large, new infrastructure to build the cartridges or other components. Neah will hire existing computer chip fabrication plants to create the necessary catalyst parts for its fuel cells. No capital expenditure, no ramp up.

November 18th, 2009

California Dreamin' revisited

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 5:47 pm

Categories: Blogroll, conservation, energy, engineering, environmental health, green tech, housing, law & politics, renewable energy, solar, wind

Tags: California, BV, Telecom & Utilities, Harry Fuller

I recently blogged about the future of greentech in the State of California in the current state that state is in. Can greentech enable California to get its mojo back?

Well, here comes a blog report on how the state’s goal for alternative energy use could invigorate the statewide economy. One thing California has is plenty of sunshine, especially in those parts of the state with the least amount of water from Palm Springs to San Diego and northward toward Santa Barbara.

Can California get one-third of its electricity from renewable by the 2020 target? That’s the official state target. Sure, the state government’s in deep money trouble. Furloughs of workers, cutbacks in services–standard across the state agencies and universities. But much of California has cash, especially some of the little tech companies most of us have heard of: Intel, Google, Cicsco, Oracle, Apple to name a few landowners in Silicon Valley. And the state has hugely productive agribusiness. Then there are all those parking lots in the San Diego and Los Angeles sprawl. Think this conjures up dreams of a solar powered future?

Some think it may lead to high value for roof space that faces south, or value in covering parking lots with solar collectors. And it would mean re-thinking and re-engineering the electric grid.

Earlier this year the state’s Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative (RETI) issued a report on what’s needed to bring desert solar-generated electricity to the California urban areas which are mostly along the coast. RETI projected billions and billions in cost. But now one of their consultants, Black and Veatch, says smaller rooftop and subrurban solar farms could decentralize power production. BV says the cost of solar panels is decreasing, as an unwritten corollary to Moore’s Law would suggest. Even in crowded Silicon Valley there are hundreds of days of sunshine yearly plus hundreds of square miles of roofs and parking lots, so, what are we waiting for?

Black and Veatch also see much more harvesting of wind energy, another plentiful California resource.

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November 17th, 2009

Smart grid networking with smart appliances

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 4:49 pm

Categories: Blogroll, conservation, energy, engineering, environmental health, green tech, housing, research

Tags: Appliance, General Electric Co., Network, Grid, Harry Fuller

More information and more efficient use of the electrical grid is clearly a way to save energy and customers’ money. So now utlities and large appliance makers are working to get the smart grid to talk to the smart appliances. Like a clothes dryer or dishwasher that waits to run after the electric rates drop overnight.

GE is working with several utlities in smart grid test programs. Reliant Energy and The Vineyard Energy Project join Masdar City and Louisville Gas & Electric as the latest to launch pilot projects using GE‘s smart grid enabled appliances.
Courtesy GE. For a more legible version of this image click here.

How about appliances that really turn themselves off completely? And where are our electric sockets with off/on switches like you find in many parts of Europe? The passive or “phantom” waste of electriciy by home appliances is notoriously pointless. Too many items are in constant syand-by as long as they’re plugged-in. Even if the homeowner is on vacation in another country, that toaster or TV is ready to roll at all times.

November 17th, 2009

Cap and trade controversial in Australia

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 11:54 am

Categories: Blogroll, European Union, air pollution, cars & traffic, conservation, energy, engineering, environmental health, federal government, green tech, law & politics, renewable energy, research

Tags: Cap-and-Trade, Harry Fuller

It’s not only in the U.S. that cap and trade (CAT) is a controversial approach to try to lower greenhouse gas emissions. A report written in Australia, and critical of CAT, has sparked a battle over censorship. Finally the report’s author and the leading science agency in Australia have reached a compromise that will allow publication there.

Currently there are CAT schemes in place in the European Union and among the northeastern states in the U.S. Here’s the website for RGGI which administers CAT across ten states in the northeastern section of the U.S.

Japan’s current government is looking at introducting CAT in the next two years. Some major metro areas of China have long had carbon trading schmes in place. But there is no national emissions regulation or CAT in China.

November 17th, 2009

Ford turns to wind power

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 5:35 am

Categories: Blogroll, Europe, cars & traffic, conservation, energy, engineering, green tech, renewable energy, wind

Tags: Turbine, Wind Energy, Ford Motor Co., Telecom & Utilities, Harry Fuller

Ford is going to be using wind power. Not to actually power their cars, but to power a car factory in Belgium.

Ford of Europe announced that its plant in Genk, Belgium will now be generating electricity through two gigantic wind turbines, each with a height of 150 metres. Installed by local energy company, Electrabel, each unit has an output of two megawatts of power, enough to power 2,500 private homes. The wind turbines will deliver a significant part of the electrical power needed in the Genk Plant, production home of the Mondeo, S-MAX and Galaxy models.

Wind is not a new Ford investment. Ford’s Dagenham Diesel Centre in the UK became the world’s first automotive plant to meet all its electricity needs from two giant on-site turbines.

A third turbine is expected to come into service in Dagenham in 2010, allowing the plant to remain 100 per cent powered by wind-generated electricity, following the installation of a new 1.4/1.6-litre Duratorq TDCi engine production line. A new three-bladed turbine, provided by Ecotricity, will be commissioned to produce two megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 1,000 homes.