Betaville lets New Yorkers play real-world Sim City. 2 October 2012Last updated at 02:30 ET By Nastaran Tavakoli-Far BBC World Service Pier-to-pier: Levis Reyes's design can be viewed and modified by others using the Betaville software Looking like the Statue of Liberty's crown, five piers jut out of lower Manhattan's Battery Park. Filled with swirling waterways and trees, steps lead from the base of the crown to the top of its spiky, outstretched arms. Designer Levis Reyes hasn't faced problems with planning permission for his flamboyant Liberty Piers, expanding out of Manhattan's Southern tip.
The development is made up of pixels placed onto a map of New York on his computer. Betaville is a multi-person open source platform which allows participants to build on empty spaces in New York City, like a real-life version of the popular game Sim City. Players can walk around New York's streets - or fly over them - and stop at empty spaces which are shown by inverted yellow pyramids hovering over the vacant spot. Creative construction. Liquid air 'offers energy storage hope' 1 October 2012Last updated at 20:31 ET By Roger Harrabin Environment analyst Renewable power generation, such as wind turbines, can produce electricity when it is not in demand Turning air into liquid may offer a solution to one of the great challenges in engineering - how to store energy. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers says liquid air can compete with batteries and hydrogen to store excess energy generated from renewables.
IMechE says "wrong-time" electricity generated by wind farms at night can be used to chill air to a cryogenic state at a distant location. When demand increases, the liquid air can be warmed to drive a turbine. Engineers say the process to produce "right-time" electricity can achieve an efficiency of up to 70%. IMechE is holding a conference today to discuss new ideas on how using "cryo-power" can benefit the low-carbon economy.
The technology was originally developed by Peter Dearman, a garage inventor in Hertfordshire, to power vehicles. Delivering durability. Docs - Online documents, spreadsheets, presentations, surveys, file storage and more.
Home | Ecosystems Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) Group: Sustainability Services ~ salesforce.com - Enterprise Edition.