On the phone just now, I learned that these folks are trying to get a patent for what they claim to be a unique catalyst that electrolyzes steam, the heat for which uses only 12% of the hydrogen they produce, powering a fuel cell. When I told them that this violates the first and second laws of thermodynamics, they said that they were aware of this, and understood my skepticism.
No surprise: They need funding to build and commercialize this, and wondered if any of the investors in my database would be interested. (more…)
The main culprit, needless to say, is the proliferation of coal-fired power plants that billow out chemical and radioactive toxins in enormous concentrations, and, as show above, make it difficult for people in many cities to see across the street under certain wind conditions. The baby shown below developed pneumonia before he ever left the hospital, and the local people are no longer willing to tolerate these conditions.
Now, it’s common knowledge that the Chinese government does not take kindly to expressions on the part of its people that may be considered “hostile” or “combative” or “subversive,” and we also know that the law of the land in China contains nothing that even vaguely resembles our First Amendment, i.e., the singular item we have in the U.S. that guarantees our freedom of speech. Thus an important question here is: what’s the fate of the brave people featured in a video that calls for the public outrage against the way their government is going about its business?
I don’t have an answer for that, but, obviously, I hope for their safety. Actually, my real hope is that they’re as far from China as one can get on this planet. I’m guessing that would be Bermuda, but I’d have to check a globe to verify that.
Philosophically, it’s hard to object to asking those who lower their power bills with solar to pay for the privilege of using the grid as their personal battery. (more…)
About 40 years ago I read a couple of the philosophic works of the 18th Century Scottish empiricist David Hume (pictured). I vaguely recall his discussion of the subject itself, i.e., that according to empiricists, the human mind has access only to sensory perceptions about the world, from which our brains try to make sense of the world around us. We infer that there really is a world out there, even though we don’t have direct access to it.
The one big idea for which Hume is best remembered, however, is what he said about miracles, i.e., “We always disbelieve the greater miracle.” (more…)
The essence of sustainable building means using a process that ensures that the building is environmentally and resource efficient throughout its entire lifetime. You must take into account the design, construction materials, the overall operation, maintenance and care and renovation, which must also conform to green building techniques, and finally the demolition of the structure when its usable service life has ended. In a perfectly executed sustainable build, a balance should be found between the building and the sustainable environment.
Here are ten steps that should always be considered when building a sustainable structure. (more…)
My most recent book, Bullish on Renewable Energy, provides many reasons that the forces of pure market economics are ushering in the various forms of clean energy resources, while they simultaneously bring about the demise of fossil fuels. Moreover, this whole process is happening far more rapidly than most people realize. The book’s subtitle suggests readers will encounter 14 different vectors, each a chapter that provides an independent financial driver of the transition from the old to the new. (more…)
I had a fortuitous conversation a few years ago at an awards dinner. I happened to be seated next to the fellow who runs the program at JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) whose purpose is to investigate the melting of ice beneath the surface of Greenland, and he explained:
Anyone with a satellite camera can see the retraction of ice from the surface. But with the equipment we’re deploying just now, it’s possible for the first time to see where the real action is and measure the total volume of ice lost in real-time.
In all candor, my association with the few people who claim to have workable, reliable technology to extract the chemical energy (and other goodies) out of waste-tires has been a disappointment. After several years of work in this arena, I believe that the 300 million tires that wind up in U.S. landfills or recycling centers each year actually do represent a gold mine, and that we’re close to developing the proper extraction tools, but that we’re not quite there. At the same time, we’ve over-developed the rhetoric to make unprovable claims in this regard.
Waste-to-energy generally is a magnet for exaggerated claims, and I believe that’s because (more…)
You could write a series of pieces that collectively are called something like “Understanding Russia and Energy.” In part, the series can be a critical reflection on this incredibly dense work: “Oil of Russia Past, Present & Future.”
You could either agree with and expand on, or disagree and myth-bust, some commonly held beliefs among Americans. (more…)
On the phone just now, I learned that these folks are trying to get a patent for what they claim to be a unique catalyst that electrolyzes steam, the heat for which uses only 12% of the hydrogen they produce, powering a fuel cell. When I told them that this violates the first and second laws of thermodynamics, they said that they were aware of this, and understood my skepticism.
