What is the take-away from the Macron landslide victory in France today? Of course, we can all breathe a little more easily that the election result represents a complete rejection of fascist and xenophobic values. But barely more subtle is the embrace of science and reason in a world that seems to be conspiring against both. (more…)
From city planning to industrial design there are numerous ways that engineers are able contribute to a greener and more sustainable future. From making use of re-purposed construction materials that may help to curb waste to utilizing clean renewable energy alternatives, there are numerous ways that sustainable engineering may be able to make a difference. The following examples each serve to highlight a different green engineering trend that we may expect to see more of in the very near future. (more…)
It’s hard to know what our lives would be like without the integrated circuit, the basis for all the electronic gadgetry on which we have become to depend so intensely. In addition to all our goodies like cell phones and computers, we need to remember that the harnessing of solar energy via photovoltaics would never have happened in the absence of this development.
As it turns out, it’s the 65th anniversary of the date on which British engineer Geoffrey Dummer first presented the concept. Per the Writer’s Almanac:
Five years later, in 1957, Dummer presented a prototype of his idea, and tried to get the British government to invest in the integrated circuit, but to no avail. He later said: “The plain fact is that nobody would take the risk. The Ministry wouldn’t place a contract because they hadn’t an application. The applications people wouldn’t say we want it, because they had no experience with it. It was a chicken-and-egg situation. The Americans took financial gambles, whereas this was very slow in this country.” Meanwhile, American scientists beat Dummer to the punch, patenting their own circuit in 1958, and it would be years before the United Kingdom had a semiconductor industry. While Dummer didn’t get a patent for his concept, he did earn the title “The Prophet of the Integrated Circuit.”
The reason this story is worth retelling is that the U.S. has regrettably lost a great deal of its interest in science–certainly from the perspective of support from the federal government. This was integral, pardon the pun, in bringing along the semiconductor industry in the mid-20th Century; the U.S. Department of Defense placed huge orders for ICs early on, believing, correctly, that this would be critical in bringing the industry out of its infancy.
It’s impossible to know what opportunities are being lost due to this unfortunate phenomenon.
The chief obstacles to bringing solar power to mainstream consumers have been low efficiency, storage, and high cost compared to conventional energy grids. Solar panels require hundreds or thousands of photovoltaic cells to capture sunlight, convert it into electrons, and pass it through inverters to become usable AC current. When there’s less sunlight, there’s less power. However, over the last decade researchers have made a lot of progress. (more…)
In this incredible interview, legendary environmentalist, eternal optimist, and one of my true heroes Paul Hawken points out that a sustainable civilization can come about quite easily, as only a small percentage of any society is required to create an extremely powerful force. (more…)
Note: I love sustainable building design, but I’m not a gopher. Perhaps readers will be more compelled to go in this direction than I am. -ed
The housing landscape is undergoing a dynamic evolution, leaning towards green technologies, practices, and ideas. (more…)
Gary Tulie, long-time colleague extraordinaire, writes:
Craig, here is one of the things I predicted when helping with Bullish on Renewable Energy. In the Netherlands, 6000 Tesla electric vehicles are beginning to show the potential of controllable charging to help integrate large quantities of extra renewable generation into the power grid.
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It’s the birthday of Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, who propounded the notion of subjectivity, i.e., that we all perceive the world around us differently. He would later be joined by the linguistic philosophers whose point was that language shapes the way we see the world, and that it’s impossible for two people to have the same perceptions if they use different words to describe them. (more…)
LED lighting is the best power-saving solution when it comes to illumination. Not only does LED light save energy, it’s also the most eco-friendly way of illumination today. Traditional lighting will without a doubt be completely replaced with this amazing technology, since the advantages of LED lighting are of major importance to both our planet and the users of these new technologies and advanced lighting innovations. (more…)
An old friend, a recently retired aerospace engineer, asked me to comment on the concept of a solar highway, in particular, the famed Route 66 that traverses 2500 miles of the U.S. I responded:
It’s cool to think about; it’s futuristic, but I’m not bullish. I’m not saying something like this will never be built, but I’m betting against any implementation large enough to make a difference. (more…)
