background preloader

Resources

Facebook Twitter

Nano(3sat): Natronlaugeheizung - Solarkraft aus dem Sommer im Winter zum Heizen verwenden. Scientists Develop Liquid Fuel That Can Store The Sun's Energy For Up to 18 Years. No matter how abundant or renewable, solar power has a thorn in its side. There is still no cheap and efficient long-term storage for the energy that it generates. The solar industry has been snagged on this branch for a while, but in the past year alone, a series of four papers has ushered in an intriguing new solution. Scientists in Sweden have developed a specialised fluid, called a solar thermal fuel, that can store energy from the sun for well over a decade. "A solar thermal fuel is like a rechargeable battery, but instead of electricity, you put sunlight in and get heat out, triggered on demand," Jeffrey Grossman, an engineer works with these materials at MIT explained to NBC News.

The fluid is actually a molecule in liquid form that scientists from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden have been working on improving for over a year. "And when we come to extract the energy and use it, we get a warmth increase which is greater than we dared hope for. " "There is a lot left to do.

DIY

Food. Power. Water. Here's how to build 100% renewable energy in the US. New Simulation Represents 100% Renewable Energy System. Clean Power Published on November 4th, 2016 | by Joshua S Hill November 4th, 2016 by Joshua S Hill Researchers at the Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland have developed the first ever model depicting a 100% global renewable energy system. In a first of its kind-type simulation researchers from the Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland have modeled a 100% global renewable energy system covering the entire planet, structured into 145 separate regions as part of 9 major world regions. “With the simulation, anyone can explore what a renewable electricity system would look like,” said Christian Breyer, LUT Solar Economy Professor and a leading scientist behind the model.

The model is able to provide the best mix of renewable energy generation, energy storage, and transmission components to cover electricity demand, resulting in a total electricity cost resting approximately between €55 and €70 per MWh for all 9 major regions. Drive an electric car? About the Author. Just 90 companies caused two-thirds of man-made global warming emissions | Environment. The climate crisis of the 21st century has been caused largely by just 90 companies, which between them produced nearly two-thirds of the greenhouse gas emissions generated since the dawning of the industrial age, new research suggests. The companies range from investor-owned firms – household names such as Chevron, Exxon and BP – to state-owned and government-run firms. The analysis, which was welcomed by the former vice-president Al Gore as a "crucial step forward" found that the vast majority of the firms were in the business of producing oil, gas or coal, found the analysis, which has been published in the journal Climatic Change.

"There are thousands of oil, gas and coal producers in the world," climate researcher and author Richard Heede at the Climate Accountability Institute in Colorado said. "But the decision makers, the CEOs, or the ministers of coal and oil if you narrow it down to just one person, they could all fit on a Greyhound bus or two. " Mark Jacobson: Barriers to 100% Clean Energy are Social and Political, Not Technical or Economic. As world leaders prepare to gather in Paris for a landmark climate summit, a new analysis from Stanford University and University of California researchers lays out roadmaps for 139 countries, including the world’s major greenhouse gas emitters, to switch to 100 percent clean, renewable energy generated from wind, water and sunlight for all purposes by 2050.

Mark Z. Jacobson, a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University and director of the school’s Atmosphere/EnergyProgram, said the roadmaps should give negotiators and leaders confidence that they can meet energy demands in all energy sectors—including electricity, transportation, heating and cooling, industry and agriculture—with clean sources. “The main barriers to getting to 100 percent clean energy are social and political, not technical or economic,” Jacobson told members of Congress and ambassadors from countries participating in the negotiations during a forum Thursday in Washington, DC. Renewables. Global Carbon Footprints. About this graphic Graphics by Stephen Rountree and Adam Marr Source: World Resources Institute CAIT 2.0 climate data explorer Emissions data and national boundaries are from 2010.

For current emissions, per capita emissions, and intensity, the data are measured in tons of "carbon dioxide equivalent. " That is, they include carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases (methane, nitrous oxides, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride) as measured by their global warming potential. Cumulative emissions are measured in tons of carbon dioxide only.

The emissions of Brazil and Indonesia may be understated because the numbers do not include calculations on land use change and forestry. There are high uncertainties in current measures of deforestation's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, as international authorities work to develop a consistent methodology. Carbon dioxide levels hit historic high - Americas. The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has broken above a symbolic threshold, 400 parts per million (ppm), for the first time, US monitors have said, indicating a record level for greenhouse gases.

Climate scientists said the findings should serve as a call for action to reverse the damage caused by human activities and heavy use of polluting fossil fuels. The Earth has not had these levels of carbon dioxide in millions of years, said Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at London School of Economics and Political Science.

"We are creating a prehistoric climate in which human societies will face huge and potentially catastrophic risks," Ward said. "Only by urgently reducing global emissions will we be able to bring carbon dioxide levels down and avoid the full consequences of turning back the climate clock. " 'Abrupt increase' Global temperatures hotter. Co-operation in a world of scarce resources. Santa Rosa, CA - From competition among hunter-gatherers for wild game to imperialist wars over precious minerals, resource wars have been fought throughout history; today, however, the competition appears set to enter a new - and perhaps unprecedented - phase.

As natural resources deplete, and as the earth's climate becomes less stable, the world's nations will likely compete ever more desperately for access to fossil fuels, minerals, agricultural land and water. Nations need increasing amounts of energy and materials to produce economic growth, but the costs of supplying new increments of energy and materials are burgeoning. In many cases, lower-quality resources with high extraction costs are all that remain.

Securing access to these resources often requires military expenditures as well. Meanwhile, the struggle for the control of resources is realigning political power balances throughout the world. Resource geopolitics The global geopolitical resource landscape A tall order? Collaboration Enterprise. Climate change is upon us and we must act | Comment is free | The Observer. Firefighters battling the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park, California, blamed on global warming. Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP It is often claimed by those who deny the reality of climate change that scientific forecasts about the impact of global warming are far too uncertain to merit taking action. There is no reason to suffer the inconvenience of leaving the planet's fossil fuels unburned when the current analyses of meteorologists, oceanographers and geophysicists will probably turn out to be false alarms, they argue. Such contention is dangerously false.

For a start, scientists' warnings about future weather patterns are certainly not overreactions to the evidence they have gathered. In most cases, observed climate changes – the slump in summer sea ice coverage in the Arctic in recent years is a good example – have turned out to be far more drastic than researchers had originally predicted. A useful example is provided by Miami. Annuaire national des AMAP. The ultimate climate change FAQ | Environment. Green versus gray: Nature's solutions to infrastructure demands - Opinion. For almost a century, New York City has drawn its drinking water from the Catskill Mountains, more than 100 miles (161km) to the north.

In April of 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the results of a several-year review of the city's ongoing programme to maintain clean drinking water supplies with forest and open space conservation in the Catskills rather than the construction of filtration plants. The results were encouraging. The EPA concluded that as long as the city agreed to set aside $300m over the next 10 years to acquire land and restrain upstate development that causes runoff and pollution, the agency would exempt New York from having to build an $8bn filtration plant.

The Catskills aqueduct has been held up as the quintessential example of green infrastructure trumping gray and has prompted cities worldwide to consider alternative solutions to the infrastructure demands of the 21st century. Many of these assets even appreciate in value over time. 1. 2. The Secret of the Seven Sisters - Oil cartel. On August 28, 1928, in the Scottish highlands, began the secret story of oil.

Three men had an appointment at Achnacarry Castle - a Dutchman, an American and an Englishman. The Dutchman was Henry Deterding, a man nicknamed the Napoleon of Oil, having exploited a find in Sumatra. He joined forces with a rich ship owner and painted Shell salesman and together the two men founded Royal Dutch Shell. The American was Walter C. Teagle and he represents the Standard Oil Company, founded by John D. Rockefeller at the age of 31 - the future Exxon. Oil wells, transport, refining and distribution of oil - everything is controlled by Standard oil. The Englishman, Sir John Cadman, was the director of the Anglo-Persian oil Company, soon to become BP.

The new automobile industry was developing fast, and the Ford T was selling by the million. That August night, the three men decided to stop fighting and to start sharing out the world's oil. But new players have now joined the great oil game. Gasförderung per Fracking löst Erdbeben aus. Fracking, also das Aufbrechen von Gesteinsschichten im Untergrund, um Erdöl und Erdgas freizusetzen, lässt die Erde offensichtlich immer häufiger beben.

Besonders gut lässt sich das im US-Bundesstaat Oklahoma beobachten, einem Fracking-Zentrum in den USA. 2013 hat es dort 109 Erdbeben gegeben, ein Jahr später schon fünfmal so viele. „Es sind mehr als jemals zuvor“, sagt Mark Petersen, Chef der United States Geological Survey (USGS). Diese dem amerikanischen Innenministerium unterstellte Behörde befasst sich unter anderem mit der Verhinderung von Naturkatastrophen. Von einer Zunahme der Erdbeben sind in den USA 14 Regionen betroffen. Aufbrucharbeiten im Untergrund Beim Fracking wird ein Gemisch aus Wasser und Sand, dem weniger als drei Prozent Chemikalien hinzugefügt werden, mit hohem Druck in den Untergrund gepumpt. 2014 hatte die USGS sich noch weitaus vorsichtiger geäußert. Fördergesellschaften geraten unter Druck Quelle: Martin Gerten/dpa Deutsche Fracking-Gegner sind mobilisiert.

Nigeria oil firms 'deflect blame for spills', says Amnesty. 7 November 2013Last updated at 07:59 ET A creek in the Niger Delta devastated by oil spills - but Shell insists it is criminals and not oil companies who are the main culprits Amnesty International has accused major oil companies, including Shell, of failing to report the true picture of oil spills in Nigeria. Amnesty says oil companies often blame oil spills on sabotage in order to get out of paying compensation when in fact corroded pipes are the cause.

The report says the process of cleaning up the oil spills is completely discredited. Shell said it "firmly rejects unsubstantiated assertions". It highlighted the issue of theft of crude oil, which it said "remains the main cause of oil pollution in the Delta". Oil spills are having an appalling environmental impact on the Niger Delta and they are happening at an alarming rate, says the BBC's Will Ross in Lagos. Continue reading the main story Analysis Will RossBBC News, Lagos 'Deflecting attention' 'Criminality to blame' Offshore-Ölförderung in der Tiefsee und der Arktis: Tiefer, kälter, riskanter - Übersicht Nachrichten. Das Inferno begann um 21 Uhr 49 am 20. April 2010: Schlamm, Erdöl und Erdgas strömten durch die Macondo-Bohrung an die Oberfläche, innert Sekunden entzündete sich das Gemisch.

Eine Stichflamme schoss über 70 Meter hoch in den Himmel. Auf der Brücke indes herrschte Verwirrung – der Kapitän der Bohrinsel zögerte minutenlang, bevor er den Blowout-Preventer auslöste, der normalerweise den Ölstrom gegen enormen Druck zurückhalten kann. Der Blowout-Preventer versagte. Vernichtende Bilanz Nach dem Untergang der «Deepwater Horizon» im Golf von Mexiko benannten Untersuchungsberichte eine ganze Kette von Ursachen für das Unglück: Das Bohrloch sei nicht ausreichend mit Zement abgedichtet, merkwürdige Messwerte im Bohrloch ignoriert worden.

Der staatliche Bericht für Präsident Obama fällte entsprechend ein vernichtendes Urteil: Es hätten sich so systematische Probleme im Umgang mit dem Risiko gezeigt, dass die Sicherheitskultur der gesamten (Erdöl-)Industrie infrage gestellt werden könne. The Guina Advantage - Beyond the edge - Guina Energy Group. List of emerging technologies. Agriculture[edit] Biomedical[edit] Displays[edit] Electronics[edit] Energy[edit] IT and communications[edit] Manufacturing[edit] Materials science[edit] Military[edit] Neuroscience[edit] Robotics[edit] Transport[edit] Other[edit] See also[edit] General Disruptive innovation, Industrial Ecology, List of inventors, List of inventions, Sustainable development, Technology readiness level Nano- Molecular manufacturing, Neurotechnology Bioscience Human Connectome Project Ethics Casuistry, Computer ethics, Engineering ethics, Nanoethics, Bioethics, Neuroethics, Roboethics Other Anthropogenics, Machine guidance, Radio frequency identification, National Science Foundation, Virtual reality Transport List of proposed future transport Further reading[edit] IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, & Fuertes, J.

References[edit] External links[edit]