So here it is with the history of the hammock. Actually Melissa Anne was supposed to get me a guest post in Word. It did not come but my deadline did. Maybe some other time I guess.

http://www.outdoorliving.com/learning-center/cat/hammocks/post/the-history-of-hammocks/

The History of Hammocks

• Hammocks have been around for hundreds of years. Read on to find out why they’re love by people all over!

More swinging tomorrow.

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I do not think so but you be the judge.

http://www.integrysenergy.com/electricity/ilelectricoffer.aspx?

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More tomorrow.

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This is an excellent website for more info about green highways. I like their inclusion of the entire roadway’s impact on the surrounding environment. Though I wish they would include a discussion of  landscapes that require no mowing and the inclusion of indigenous plants.

http://www.greenhighwayspartnership.org/index.php

BACKGROUND

The Green Highways Partnership (GHP) is dedicated to transforming the relationship between the environment and transportation infrastructure.  In its nationwide review of green transportation infrastructure, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation found the GHP to be “the primary federal vehicle for encouraging the use of green transportation infrastructure by state and local governments and private industry.”  Such a finding says that this effort is not only unique to the nation, but is the only one of its type serving this critical purpose recognized by Congress.

“All of the Federal Government’s greatest achievements in the last half century involved significant amounts of collaboration across sectors.”

Dr. John Bryson, U.MN-
On exercising government leadership through collaboration.

The Partnership
The GHP serves as a voluntary public-private collaborative that advances environmental stewardship in transportation planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance while balancing economic and social objectives. The Green Highways Partnership is supported by an ever growing list of dedicated and experienced partners. However, the partnership would like to recognize the following partners for their considerable financial and staff support:

The GHP was initiated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) out of a realization that building safe, sound transportation systems and protecting and sustaining a clean and healthy environment were not mutually exclusive, particularly in light of their common denominator, serving the “public good.”

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More tomorrow.

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When are we going to admit that we are sitting on a time bomb. Nuclear power was always a dumb idea…though pushed in part by rocket scientists…and now it is a plague. How else do you explain my waking up to these 2 headlines on the same day?

http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFN1E75R19920110628

New Mexico aims to protect US nuclear lab from fire

Nuclear weapons lab closes due to fire danger

* Fire has potential to double or triple in size

By Zelie Pollon

SANTA FE, N.M., June 28 (Reuters) – New Mexico officials raced on Tuesday to bring in more fire crews and equipment including radiation monitors as an out-of-control wildfire raged near the preeminent U.S. nuclear weapons laboratory.

Firefighters managed to keep flames off Los Alamos National Laboratory property throughout the night on Monday as the blaze continued to grow, reaching 60,741 acres (24,580 hectares), said Lawrence Lujan, a spokesman for the Santa Fe National Forest.

The laboratory will remain closed on Tuesday and Wednesday due to fire danger, lab spokesman Kevin Roark told Reuters.

Fire officials said the so-called Las Conchas blaze had the potential to double or triple in size. Several towns are under mandatory evacuation, including the nearby city of Los Alamos, with a population of around 12,000.

Los Alamos National Laboratory was established at the end of World War II to house the top secret Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bomb. It still serves as home to the nation’s largest nuclear weapons cache.

Situated on a hilltop, 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Santa Fe, lab property covers 36 square miles (38 square km). Today the lab employees nearly 12,000 people in a range of research and development areas.   Continued…

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Please read more but it will scare you to death how close to an actual disaster we came. Is this one in the making?

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90052753?Missouri%20River%20flood%20water%20threatens%20Nebraska%20nuclear%20power%20plants

Missouri River flood water threatens Nebraska nuclear power plants

Because of residents’ worry of a nuclear disaster, rumors about the true conditions of the two plants circulate in the state.

The rising Missouri River flood water continues to threaten the two power plants in Nebraska. To assess the situation, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko visited the Fort Calhoun plant on Monday morning.

The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station, located 20 miles north of Omaha, is one of the two nuclear plants in the state being monitored by the NRC because of the threats of inundation from the Missouri River.

The Fort Calhoun plant has been closed since April for refueling. Its parking lot is flooded, plant employees need to walk on a catwalk to reach the facility. An inflatable water-filled barrier that surrounds the plant was punctured by machinery on Sunday, but the plant operators assured residents that key areas of the facility are not in danger of submersion.

However, plant employees briefly switched to diesel backup generators to keep the nuclear fuel at the site cool because the flood water got too close to electrical transformers.

The other plant, Cooper Nuclear Station, is on higher ground and continues to operate. However, reports said the station is close to shutting down because flood water had reached critical levels.

Because of residents’ worry of a nuclear disaster, rumors about the true conditions of the two plants circulate in the state.

The rumors include an alleged two-mile radius no-fly zone declared by the Federal Aviation Administration on the air space around Fort Calhoun because of a radiation leak and the declaration of a Level 4 emergency at the facility.

The plant operators denied the reports.

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Did I mention that there now appears to be water leaking into the basement of the facility. More tomorrow if we are still alive.

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I have fun with google everyonce in awhile. I will pick an odd phrase, like today I typed in “beautiful energy conservation”.  As always Procter and Gamble, Siemens and Johnson Controls greenwash pages popup first. Google is such a money hog. But this site was #4 so I thought what the heck. What a pleasant surprise.

http://www.gwinnettcb.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=16&Itemid=58

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More tomorrow.

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http://weblog.greenpeace.org/nuclear-reaction/2009/02/energy_generation_small_is_bea.html

Energy generation: small is beautiful

t’s difficult to get your head around the sheer massive size of nuclear reactors. The things are absolutely huge. Just to give you a flavour, in Flamanville, France, where EDF are building a ‘state of the art’ EPR reactor, the roads aren’t wide enough to transport the large reactor components to the construction site.

People sometimes forget that nuclear reactors are just kettles. Great big kettles. The hot nuclear fuel inside the reactor boils water which turns into steam which turns the turbines which generate electricity. Those turbines, as you can imagine, are also huge.

Being so large and heavy, they can’t be transported in any conventional way. Often they’re shipped on giant barges. They’re shipped very slowly and very carefully. Sometimes not slowly and carefully enough. You know where two $10-million 107-tonne turbines destined for the Canada’s Point Lepreau nuclear power station found themselves last October? Spending five days on the bottom of Saint John Harbour.

And that’s another of the major problems with nuclear power and why a so-called nuclear ‘renaissance’ will be impossible to achieve: the nuclear industry has no economies of scale. You cannot increase production of nuclear power stations anywhere near quickly enough to fulfil the promises made by the industry and save us from the worst of global climate change.

Wind turbines and solar energy couldn’t be more different. You can build a working wind turbine in two weeks. The renewable energy industry is a hugely scaleable one. Smaller and more readily available components make it far, far easier to expand production. Want a hundred kilometres of solar cells produced in a day? Mass-produced printable solar cells are already being trialled. The renewable energy technologies are ever improving.

The components of nuclear reactors are too large and complex to mass produce or produce quickly in the same way. Japan Steel Works, the only company in the world currently making specialised steel containers for reactor cores, already has a three year backlog. All those countries boasting of building new reactors in the near future are going to have to join a very slow-moving queue.

Posted by Justin on February 20, 2009 3:03 PM | Permalink

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More tomorrow

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This event used to be the weekend after Earth Day and was Springfield’s celebration of it. Several years ago the organizers decided to break that pattern and hold it at different venues and at different times. I am “jake” with that. As the original organizer of the first day said, “Everyday should be an Earth Day”. This year it is at our cool new park with its geothermal heating and cooling, AND its wind turbine. YAH!

http://cityofspringfieldillinois.blogspot.com/2010/04/18th-annual-earth-awareness-fair.html

City of Springfield, Illinois

Monday, April 12, 2010

18TH ANNUAL EARTH AWARENESS FAIR

at Monday, April 12, 2010

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More tomorrow.

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OK. This has nothing to do with Energy or the Environment. I mean it does if you believe that air travel, both military and commercial, is responsible for a HUGE chunk of the atmospheric pollution that is destabilizing the planet’s climate. Even then how much will it add? Not much probably. Still this is just so cool. As reported here:

http://www.universetoday.com/84765/dream-job-posting-spaceship-pilots-wanted/

Dream Job Posting: Spaceship Pilots Wanted

by Nancy Atkinson on April 11, 2011

Some might do a double take at this job posting, but it is legit. Virgin Galactic announced today they are looking for pilot-astronauts and are now accepting applications…from qualified candidates. High scores on Aces of the Galaxy or Space Flight Simulator probably doesn’t meet the criteria, so just what does constitute Virgin Galactic’s idea of qualified?

Virgin’s press release says qualified candidates are full course graduates of a recognized test pilot school who are broadly experienced with both high-performance fast-jet type airplanes and large multi-engine types. Prior spaceflight experience is desirable. You’ll also have to be able to create a safe and enjoyable commercial suborbital space flight experience for your passengers.

Those selected will have the responsibilities of knowing the WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo spaceflight system test program in and out (and in accordance with government regulations and company policies in Mojave, California where test flights take place and Virgin Galactic’s commercial operations at Spaceport America in New Mexico.)

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Sourced from the Virgin itself.

http://www.virgingalactic.com/careers/

Careers

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But is this the near end of a dead end road? Have we so polluted the planet that this is our last gasp? We shall see. More tomorrow.

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There are many things you could call what happened to Japan. A nuclear, earthquake, or tsunami followed by the word disaster. But to me it is a failure of planning disaster. I can imagine a 20 foot wall 10 miles inland with all the areas population living behind it. I can imagine all the land in between there and the ocean as green space. I can imagine the ports and the fishing boats and the sea farms being operated by the inhabitants who must commute 10 miles one way everyday. I can not image what this guy saw. Pretty good writer also. See:

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55156

EXCLUSIVE
Report from Fukushima
By Suvendrini Kakuchi

FUKUSHIMA, Japan, Apr 7, 2011 (IPS) – My decision to visit Fukushima – the area worst hit by the massive quake, tsunami and nuclear power accident on Mar. 11 – was taken one afternoon last week after a long meeting with scientists.

The invitation to accompany the scientists on a private fact-finding mission to Fukushima was irresistible. The scientists and engineers who gathered that day, had, for decades, harboured misgivings over reactor safety design and policies and were active in the ongoing debate over the future of nuclear energy in Japan.

“There is a dire need for a real time radiation monitoring network to be set up in areas affected by the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear power plant,” Atsuto Suzuki, head of the high-energy accelerator research organisation at Tsukuba University, explained. “This is where our expertise can begin to play a role.”

We started our journey at 6am, armed with bottles of mineral water, clothing that could be discarded before our return to Tokyo, and special facemasks to protect us from radiation when we approached the 20-kilometre exclusive zone around the damaged reactors.

Around our necks dangled radioactive dosimeters, resembling large thermometers. The machines would show accumulated microsieverts of radiation contamination on our bodies and instructions were given that we carry them all the time to record the rise in the figures while noting the exact locations.

“Our own documentation of radioactive material is key to understanding the Fukushima accident,” explained Yoichi Tao, a physicist specialising in risk management design, who is now retired. He is also a graduate from Tokyo University.

But Tao is not part of the cosy group of experts who have guided Japan’s ambitious post-war nuclear power industry. Instead, having experienced the atomic bombing of Hiroshima when he was just six years old, the scientist, contends the bitter truth that Japan had chosen to ignore till today, was that fool-proof safety in nuclear power is simply a “myth”.

“It is time,” he explained, “to embark on a clearer definition of the complex concept of safety. This calls for research from diverse perspectives – the views of residents, independent opinions, as well as taking in an assessment on the impact of the accident on other countries.”

The three-hour drive to Fukushima was hauntingly poignant. With most of the motorways now open for traffic, we passed the breathtaking scenery that marks Japan’s northern region – mountains dotted with pristine pine forests on one side of the road and the pale blue, now serene, ocean glistening on the other. Sharp gusts of chilly air wrapped our car on a near empty road, a sign of the lost appeal of Fukushima – which had been up till now a tourist destination boasting therapeutic hot springs and fresh seafood.

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More next week.

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Every once in awhile I mess around with Google. Kinda like when they had their I Feel Lucky option on their main page. I type in something into their main field like, energy improvements, or new energy or the like and usually something boring comes back like Siemens or some other energy company or a government page. But today I just typed in Energy and got the surprise of my life.  Apparently there is a new energy supply company in Illinois. I know nothing about them nor their claims but here is their data.

http://www2.directenergy.com/SEM/illinois/comEd-electricity-company.aspx?gclid=CMLbo-7sxqcCFYEUKgodFxRmFw

http://www.directenergy.com/EN/About-Us/Pages/Company-Information/Company-Information.aspx

Direct Energy is a leading supplier of Electricity and Natural Gas Products. Find out what fixed, variable, and pay-as-you-go plans are offered in your local area.

From heating and cooling equipment ser-vicing sales, to a wide array of protection plans to cover important aspects in your home. Find out what service we can offer you in your local area.

Please select your region.

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Callie Brooks wanted me to post this link about home emergency preparedness so here it is:

http://www.homeownersinsurance.org/

I learn something new everyday. More next week.

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