Types of solar collectors for electric generation Parabolic troughs, dishes and towers described in this section are used almost exclusively in solar power generating stations or for research purposes. The conversion efficiency of a solar collector is expressed as eta0 or η0. [edit] Parabolic trough Parabolic trough This type of collector is generally used in Continue Reading →
BNSF Railway and Vehicle Projects Demonstrate Experimental Hydrogen Fuelcell Hybrid Switch Locomotive 30 June 2009 Rear view of the fuelcell hybrid switch locomotive. The dual Ballard fuel cell stacks are to the left (i.e., rear) of the switcher. Source: Vehicle Projects. Click to enlarge. BNSF Railway and Vehicle Projects Inc. of Denver/Golden, Colo., a developer Continue Reading →
WHEN Kevin Rudd rhetorically promised in the 2007 election campaign to do something about rising petrol and grocery prices, he was making a promise he could not keep.
Yesterday, after the waste of millions in taxpayers’ funds, the Rudd government conceded that reality and dumped its promise.
This is a broken election promise, a betrayal of expectations of voters and a repudiation of Rudd’s promise, a promise that was always a pretence.
There is lots of talk about a Green New Deal in the US and Europe and the expectation is that government’s can steer industry into a sustainable mode of production that will reverse the alarming trends leading to food and water shortages, global warming, acidification of the oceans and the deforestation of the globe. While this is exactly what environmentalists have been fighting for over the last three decades many worry that it is too little too late, or that the problem is more fundamental than any one realises.
How do we move forward?
And so to the primary question. Is it possible for humanity to live sustainably?
Obviously the answer is yes, all natural systems settle into some sort of rhythm eventually and we are a part of nature. The real question is whether we learn how to do this after civilisation collapses horribly ten times, three times, once or, hopefully, in the next decade or two.
One of the most important things to understand is that by a zero growth economy we do not mean a stagnant one. It is the nature of life to create change. James Lovelock developed the Gaia hypothesis from his observations about planetary life. We know Mars is dead because it is chemically inert. We know there is life on earth, even from outerspace, because its atmosphere is incredibly volatile, full of reactive chemicals that can only exist if there is some driving force that creates complex, highly energised compounds.
Tidal power is a means of electricity generation achieved by capturing the energy contained in moving water mass due to tides. Two types of energy can be extracted: kinetic energy of currents between ebbing and surging, and potential energy from the difference in height (or head) between high and low water marks.
The MCT Turbine seen below is a new design, generating energy from flowing currents and is considered more feasible today than building ocean based dams or barrages. Many coastal sites worldwide are being examined for their suitability to produce energy from these currents.
These turbines could be installed in the sea at places with high current velocities, or in a few places with fast enough continuous ocean currents, to take out energy from these huge volumes of flowing water.