Archive for the 'Energy' Category
Fukushima Plant Fuel Rod Removals to Begin Today
November 17th, 2013Via: Blomberg: Tokyo Electric Power Co. will begin removing spent fuel today from the wrecked Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear facility, an early milestone in decommissioning that could threaten another crisis if mishandled. Removal of the first of the 1,533 fuel-rod assemblies at the plant’s No. 4 reactor building is scheduled to begin at about 3 p.m., […]
Qatar: Sahara Forest Project
November 12th, 2013Via: Science: A project to “green” desert areas with an innovative mix of technologies—producing food, biofuel, clean water, energy, and salt—reached a milestone this week in the Gulf state of Qatar. A pilot plant built by the Sahara Forest Project (SFP) produced 75 kilograms of vegetables per square meter in three crops annually, comparable to […]
The $100,000 Battery That Could Help Hotels Save Bundles of Money
November 8th, 2013Via: The Atlantic: What riles Hobbs is utilities’ approach to managing electricity supply and demand for big commercial customers like hotels. If a hotel’s energy consumption spikes—say on a hot day when guests all turn on their room air conditioners at once—the utility ratchets up the electricity rate they pay. To avoid these so-called demand […]
Mob Illegally Dumped Nuclear and Industrial Waste Around Southern Italy
November 5th, 2013Via: Daily Mail: Toxic nuclear and industrial waste, dumped illegally by the Neapolitan mafia, is responsible for a surge in cancers in southern Italy, it is feared. The Italian Senate is investigating a link between buried pollutants and a rise of almost 50 per cent in tumours found in the inhabitants of several towns around […]
MIT Thermoelectric Bracelet: “Personalized, Dynamic Climate Control”
October 31st, 2013Via: Wired: Wristify, as they call their device, is a thermoelectric bracelet that regulates the temperature of the person wearing it by subjecting their skin to alternating pulses of hot or cold, depending on what’s needed.
People Who Live Downwind of Alberta’s Oil and Tar Sands Operations Are Getting Blood Cancer
October 30th, 2013Via: Think Progress: A new study has found that levels of air pollution downwind of the largest tar sands, oil and gas producing region in Canada rival levels found in the world’s most polluted cities. And that pollution isn’t just dirtying the air — it also could be tied increased incidence of blood cancers in […]
Another Google Barge Spotted on East Coast
October 29th, 2013If there was a list of Cryptogon axioms, #1 would probably be: No collapse due to energy scarcity. I’ve gone into why for many years, so feel free to look through the archives. Terawatts of untapped energy are just swirling around out there in the oceans, waiting to turn the gears of fascism. It was […]
Electric Utility Executives Worry About Solar Panels
October 28th, 2013Via: San Francisco Chronicle: Sitting on a rooftop, soaking up sun, the humble solar panel may not look like a threat to a multibillion-dollar industry. But some electric utility executives say it is. They even have a name for the nightmare scenario solar could create – the “death spiral.” They fear solar’s rapid spread across […]
China: ‘Unprecedented’ Policy Changes Ahead
October 28th, 2013Via: Bloomberg: Chinese Politburo member Yu Zhengsheng said reforms to be discussed at a Communist Party meeting next month will be unprecedented, adding to signs that leaders are resolved to spur far-reaching policy changes. Yu’s comments, made in a speech at a forum to promote relations with Taiwan, were reported by the official Xinhua News […]
Is Google Building a Large Floating Data Center in San Francisco Bay?
October 26th, 2013It’s made out of shipping containers and will possibly harness the motion of waves to generate electricity. Great reporting, Cnet! Via: Cnet: Something big and mysterious is rising from a floating barge at the end of Treasure Island, a former Navy base in the middle of San Francisco Bay. And Google’s fingerprints are all over […]
