Category: Archive

Smart grid standard sorted

admin /17 June, 2007

ZigBee Alliance members provide consumers, building owners and the energy industry with interoperable products and an open and interoperable standard connecting consumer and commercial devices to the utility grid, accordinng to an Alliance statement, reported erisk.net (17/5/2007).

Advanced metering: "The ZigBee Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Profile will take advantage of other ZigBee application profiles for Home and Commercial building automation products, filling a critical gap and integrating Home Area Networks (HAN), or in-premise networks, to smart energy grids. The ZigBee AMI Profile provides the critical "last foot" connection from a smart meter to existing ZigBee networks conducting home and commercial building automation.

Standards-based: "It also provides a standards-based approach for utility programs such as demand response and demand-based pricing programs which will drive global energy efficiency to unprecedented levels. In the US alone, progressive utility companies and state legislatures are expected to deploy new smart meters in approximately 30 million homes over the next few years. Southern California Edison selected ZigBee as the standard in its HAN technology for its five million smart meter upgrade program. Many countries and US states are considering legislation to provide incentives and encourage the deployment of AMI to offset the predicted energy crunch, avoid building new power plants and help slow global carbon emissions.

Russia intensifies global warming effort

admin /17 June, 2007

Source: Yahoo News   Russia is to intensify efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in order to stay in compliance with the Kyoto treaty as its economy rebounds from the economic collapse of the early 1990s, the country’s deputy economic development minister said. The 1990s dramatic drop in economic production made Russia’s Kyoto targets Continue Reading →

Corpses could provide oil: Yes Men

admin /17 June, 2007

Reforestation make marginal land profitable

admin /16 June, 2007

The south-west Victoria and south-east SA and south-west WA regions exhibit the most favourable prospects for tree planting to address land and water salinity across large parts of the landscape and capture non-salinity benefits including wood production, according to a report on “Integrated Forestry on Farmland” by Cooperative Research Centre for Plant Based Management of Continue Reading →

Irish Greens get taste of power

admin /16 June, 2007

In a country where the national colour is green, the flag is partly green and the national teams’ shirts are, yes, green, you might have thought the Green Party would have had a sniff of power before now.

Bertie Ahern has led coalition governments since 1997

The party is finally getting its chance, having signed up to be part of a coalition government for the next five years.

Governing by coalition is pretty much the norm in Ireland. But for the Greens, it is a huge step. And for Irish politics, it marks a significant moment.

Ireland’s Greens, as in other European countries, have smartened up their act in recent years, swapping the muesli and sandals image for something more serious.

In Irish politics, election day is only the start of the fun.

Next comes the vote-counting, which under the system of proportional representation used here can take days.

Then comes the horse-trading over the formation of a government.

Hybrid Solar Lighting Promises 50% Efficiency

admin /16 June, 2007

While hybrid solar lighting technology is still in its infancy compared to solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal, the technology is slowly gaining recognition as a legitimate contender in the race to become a commercially viable technology. Set to enter the U.S. market in 2008, the hybrid technology recently earned the Excellence in Technology Transfer Award from the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer.

The award is presented to federal laboratory employees for outstanding work in the process of transferring a technology to the commercial marketplace. In this case, the award recognized a team of researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

The Oak-Ridge developed hybrid solar lighting (HSL) technology uses a rooftop-mounted 48-inch diameter collector and secondary mirror that tracks the sun throughout the day. The collector system focuses the sunlight into 127 optical fibers connected to special light fixtures equipped with diffusion rods similar to fluorescent light bulbs. The rods spread light in all directions.

One collector currently powers 8 to 10 hybrid light fixtures that can illuminate about 1,000 square feet of space. During times of little or no sunlight, a sensor controls the intensity of fluorescent lamps to maintain a constant level of illumination.

According to ORNL, the system is estimated to save about 6,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year in lighting and another 2,000 kWh in reduced cooling needs for a total savings of 8,000 kWh per year.