Taking my own advice and “following the money,” I note that Bill Gates is investing in a start-up whose product is utility-scale energy storage. We are not far from the robust expansion of renewable energy, propelled by this solution (“aqueous hybrid ion”) and others like it.
I just sent an email to a young man who claims to have discovered and harnessed a new form of energy here on Earth. Of course, I’m skeptical, but he’s a terrific fellow and I’m willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement so he can feel comfortable in telling me what this is all about.
In the meanwhile, I wrote:
You may be interested to know that the mistake most people have made when I hear stories like this is that they believe there is “energy” in gravity, or magnetism, or the electrostatic fields surrounding charged particles, etc. Each of these entities is a different kind of force; force and energy aren’t the same thing. (more…)
I write often about humankind’s tendency towards specialization, i.e., how most of the R&D work aimed at innovation in today’s world is performed by people with extremely narrow (though intensely refined) skill-sets. I suppose it can be argued that this is necessary, or even that it’s a good thing, as we learn more and more about hundreds of different disciplines. But it means that, each year, fewer people are “thinking outside the box,” developing potential solutions to our problems from fresh new perspectives. When was the last time we heard about someone like Leonardo da Vinci?
I bring this up to mention the birthday of Albert Schweitzer in 1875: theologian, musical prodigy, author, philosopher, physician and medical missionary. I remember when I was a little boy my grandfather made a huge deal about the man (who was still alive at the time); “Baba” told me that Schweitzer was one of the greatest men in the history of humankind, and it is certainly hard to argue against that.
When Schweitzer received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952, the bestowing organization remarked, “The expression ‘reverence for life’ is the key to Albert Schweitzer’s personal philosophy. No person must ever harm or destroy life unless absolutely necessary. This attitude permeated everything he did.”
Speaking for all of us, I sure would like to be a bit more “reverence for life” in the 21st Century. Examples are all around us, but to take a single one, we don’t seem to have a problem hacking away what remains of the Amazon rain forest, which we’re turning, largely, into grazing land for beef cattle — at the rate of 1.8 acres per second. For far too many people, the fact that this is so obviously unsustainable is of only vague and distant concern. We tend not to ask “Why can’t we put a stop to this?” or even “What will we do when this huge habitat and CO2-sink is gone?” but rather, “May I have a cheeseburger, please?”
In the last century, power resources were largely fossil fuels. However, in the modern era, we seek to combine the convenience found in elevating technology with maintaining minimal to no harm done to the planet and its natural resources. (more…)
Green architecture planning is the act of outlining plans for buildings that reduce the human carbon footprint of the building as well as the people who will occupy it. Construction is designed to maximize the use of natural resources both inside and outside the building. This can save an incredible amount of resources during the construction of the building as well as through the building’s lifetime. This is done by following a few principles that proponents of green architecture share. (more…)
I have to laugh when I read some of these guest blog posts. Apparently some are good and helpful; in other cases, that really can’t be the case. I just cut ties with one blogger whose list of “facts” about the environment includes: “Americans throw away 25 trillion Styrofoam cups per day.” As I pointed out to her in my email parting ways: that’s over 80,000 per person per day or approximately one per second. Does that seem like a reasonable number?
Of course, “60 Minutes” didn’t demonstrate too great a command of fact-checking either.
Are you concerned with resource sustainability? Are you a firm believer in the need for renewable and alternative energy for the improvement and continued existence of life on earth? You wouldn’t be alone; this is an issue important to millions, even if policy in many areas fails to reflect it. Online, you can find groups of people who are looking to get involved in the renewable energy movement on various different levels. (more…)
When we got up this morning, my wife asked me why I hadn’t written anything about the chemical spill in West Virginia, with all its implications, especially the fossil fuel industry’s scrupulous avoidance of environmental regulations, the horrors of the coal industry, etc. I told her that I don’t hit a man when he’s down.
And that’s the truth; in fact, I’ll even throw this on top: fossil fuels made the U.S. what it is today. But now, it’s the work of decent people everywhere to acknowledge a simple fact: the 19th and 20th Centuries are behind us. Now, it’s time to look to the future.
If someone could explain this to me, I would be most appreciative: Apparently, two Ph.D.-carrying professors of physics at the University of Houston believe in the validity of “lunar solar power” (something that had escaped my notice altogether until just now). The concept: collect the energy incident on the moon and then beam it to Earth. (more…)
I was in the process of writing my post on sustainable forestry a few minutes ago, when the phone rang and an old friend/client called to get caught up. In the course of the conversation, he told me about an indirect connection he has to the developers of the largest non-rigid airship in history. Its main commercial purpose? Airlifting felled trees out of the Amazon. When built, tested, and deployed, this thing will be the least cost way of taking what little remains of the world’s forest to the sawmill a few hundred miles away.
Needless to say, if this project happens, it will do so without my support.
