Category Archives: burn free generation

Solar Islands – This is a great concept

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They say nothing about storms or ship traffic so I am not sure how this would work in the real world.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/floating-solar-islands-designed-to-power-crowded-cities-15979

Floating solar islands designed to power crowded cities

By on 29 October 2012

Not to be confused with what could be the biggest storm ever to hit the United States, SUNdy – a large-scale offshore solar farm concept by global consultancy and certification firm DNV – was unveiled at Singapore International Energy Week on Thursday last week.

The core feature of the floating solar concept is a hexagonal array of 4,200 solar panels – roughly the size of a football pitch – which floats on the sea’s surface. The ‘solar island’ would be capable of generating 2MW of power, with multiple islands joined together to create an offshore solar field of 50MW or more, producing enough electricity for around 30,000 people.

“The island has been optimised for solar capability and cabling efficiency,” says Kevin Smith, Global Segment Director for DNV KEMA’s Renewable Energy Services. “The solar arrays are divided into electrical zones feeding electricity produced into two main switches collecting the power for voltage step up at a central transformer (2MVA 480/34.5kV). From the offshore solar farm’s central island, 30kV electrical transmission lines connect, tying other islands in series to form a close loop and continue to the electrical sub-station onshore for grid connection.”

Sanjay Kuttan, managing director of the DNV Clean Technology Centre in Singapore says SUNdy’s thin-film 560W solar panels are flexible and lighter most silicon-based modules, allowing them to undulate with the ocean’s surface. “The key to creating an ocean-based structure of this size is the use of a tension-only design. Rather like a spider’s web, this dynamic, compliant structure yields to the waves, yet is capable of withstanding considerable external loads acting upon it.”

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The Hoyer Lift – A classic from my past

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This concludes my meditation on handicapped devices for the home. It was never meant to be a catalog or even a realistic sampling. After all, this is a blog about energy and the environment. That said, this is a blog that envisions humans being good to the planet and using nonpolluting energy sources not as living in a cave huddle around a fire. It is actually about improving the efficiency and quality of life for everyone including the handicapped. Today’s post is one from my deep past. My grandmother was in a wheelchair for 30 years. Her legs were paralyzed from the waist down. We had a Hoyer lift in our home for that whole time. So this is for you Treva where ever you are.

http://www.1800wheelchair.com/product/5463/hoyer-heavy-duty-lift-with-optional-scale

Description

Hoyer’s Heavy-Duty Power Lift features a power operated base with a clearance of 4.5″. The 6-point cradle design maximizes patient comfort, and the long padded handles offer a plethora of grip choices. This lift also features an extended reach for floor pick-up capabilities. Emergency stop and power manual lowering for added safety. Optional upgrade model features a scale for convenient weighing.

Features

  • Power operated base
  • 6-Point cradle design for maximum patient comfort
  • Long, padded handles offer a plethora of grip choices
  • Extended reach for floor pick-up
  • Emergency stop for added safety
  • Power manual lowering
  • 700 lbs. Weight capacity

Included

  • One Hoyer Heavy-Duty Power Lift with Optional Scale
  • Free Shipping
  • Limited 1 Year Warranty

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Disability Aids For The Home – My how things have gotten better

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When I played at being deaf, it was surreal. They challenged us to try to participate in a activity while experiencing one of the handicapped conditions. I was hungry and they did not provide lunch so I went to the student cafeteria and ordered as best I could by speaking, but there were a few things I had to write down. I also smacked into people a couple of times because I could not hear people coming at me. To top it all off it made the room all bright and glarey. Some kind of weird sensory enhancement I guess. Anyway it was pretty cool. This post is not about hearing however, it is about Bathroom Safety Products.

  http://www.easierliving.com/all-products/bathroom-safety-hygiene/default.aspx

Bathroom Safety Products & Hygiene Aids for Homecare

As life progresses, you adjust. Through these changes, EasierLiving.com bathroom safety products and hygiene aids can help you hold on to your sense of independence and dignity – whether recovering from surgery, an injury, health condition or simply just advancing in age.

If you or a loved one needs help with bathing, using the toilet, or creating a safer place for both, EasierLiving.com can provide you with all the bathroom safety products and hygiene aids to make homecare easier.

The experts at EasierLiving.com have carefully selected the best among thousands of bathroom safety products used in nursing homes and hospitals, so you can now have access to the same, high-quality items best suited for home use, not to mention, peace of mind.

Bathtub & Shower Safety
The bathroom can be a dangerous place for anyone, let alone someone with a disability or limited strength and balance. Make you or your loved one’s bathroom safer with our selection of bath grab bars, safety rails, shower seats and more bathroom safety products.

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There Are So Many Aides Out There – Being disabled has changed a lot in 40 years

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I promised that I would talk about the Child’s Playhouse today and I will but I have not talked about my experiences both of the other three disabilities and the week long pledge I took. The playhouse was a put together model of 2 huge rooms, built on a scale as if human adults were children. Each of the two rooms illustrated many of the challenges children face like tables, counter tops, drawers, and cabinets (the organizers quickly pointed out that they were not saying children WERE handicapped much like pregnancy can be described as a disease but it is really not), and the second room had furniture, peoples legs and a partial staircase. It was so cool because to get to stuff, especially if you couldn’t talk you had to climb on things. The stairs were a huge challenge and kinda scary as was walking around peoples legs.  It was big fun. Here is another thing that helps the disabled and I got to tell you from trying to open the door to the playhouse – it was real hard.

http://www.power-access.com/Model-2300-door-opener.html

 

Model 2300 Residential Door Opener

 

To assist disabled individuals toward independence, or for anyone who finds a closed door a problem… Power Access 2300 residential door opener makes access by opening the door and egress by closing the door easier.

Installation Ease

  • No modification of the door or jambs
  • Plugs right into a regular 115vac wall outlet
  • Complete instructions are packed with every door opener
  • Virtually maintenance free
  • Fits in most interior and some exterior door applications
  • Left and right hand door openers are available (hand can be changed in the field in a matter of minutes)
  • Low profile model, for limited room above the door
  • Door opener opens and closes the door

An Array of Companion Controls (wired or wireless)

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I Am Fascinated With Wheelchair Lifts – I am so glad I decided to do the residential handicapped stuff

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I was recounting in the last post about a “handicapped” workshop that had an amazing experiential component to it. There were 4 common ailments included that everyone got to try out: being blind (which I have described), being in a wheelchair which was kind of boring but boy has that changed since 1977, having an arm amputated and being deaf. Like I said the wheelchair experience was just rolling around in this large open space. They did not want us to take them outside because we could break them or we could be hurt ourselves. They did give each of us a cautious trip down some stairs at the door to the outside. There were three of them and it was creepy. My grandma was in a wheelchair so I did it better than most.

They had an extra attraction called being a child, which I will talk about tomorrow. So here is a wheelchair lift.

http://www.freedomliftsystems.com/WheelchairAccessibleVerticalPlatformLifts.asp?gclid=CKKJ0f_7jbMCFdEWMgodawoAjg

Wheelchair Platform Lifts

A simple and inexpensive wheelchair porch lift uses less space and is often a much more attractive and affordable solution than the alternative of installing a ramp.

These reliable vertical lifts can be installed outdoors or indoors and are designed to be completely resistant to the harshest weather conditions.

Wheelchair platform lifts for residential and commercial installations are easily installed and have a lifting range from 28″ up to as much as 12 feet (144″).

Our systems are an economical way to offer home / building accessibility.

Twenty years of manufacturing experience has resulted in the most durable and economical solution for wheelchair platform lift access in North America.

We will help you have a successful project, starting with offering four categories of wheelchair platform lifts.

Residential lifts for home use provides an attractive and practical solution for making your home accessible for a wheelchair user.

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I Never Thought About Elevators Before – But for a couple thousand dollars why not

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I attended a workshop on being handicapped at the University of Wisconsin, Madcity. It was maybe one of the most amazing things I have ever done. They let you experience 4 common handicaps. They also supplied a fifth experience, that of being being a small child and then insisted that we move around the campus or in the foyer of the students union a little. Everyone fought over the 3 or 4 wheelchairs that they had. I picked being “blind” instead, so they blindfolded me and gave me a stick. They led me around for a little bit and said, “lets go outside”! I mean it was amazing, the sounds and the smells and stuff. But the hardest part was for me to stop putting my hand out in front of myself. So anyway, to be “brand fair”, we will do a couple of days on home elevators. Plus some other handicapped stuff for the home.

 

http://www.garaventalift.com/en/products/home_elevators.html?gclid=COWe1Lmci7MCFdEWMgodawoAjg

In the past elevators in the home were, for the most part, only obtained by the extremely wealthy: they were more of a luxury item than an accessibility need. However, now with advancements in technology, home elevators have become ideal for accessibility, convenience, and adding unique value.

As we get older, arranging our home to suite our needs becomes more difficult. Not only because of the extra work involved, but also because adjusting to the changes that aging brings can feel uncomfortable. Home elevators allow people the ability to comfortably age in place. If an elevator is already in our home, then by the time it becomes a necessity we are already accustomed to it. Familiar surroundings are increasingly important as we enter our tender years, as we can begin to rely on more of our long term memories. Similarly, moving to a home that is more accessible can be inconvenient and disorienting. Including a home elevator in our building plans makes for a much more convenient long term solution.

Having a home elevator also makes moving items safer and more convenient. Instead of carrying a heavy or awkward load up the stairs, an elevator can be used. In turn the chances of injury are lessened, as well as the time it takes.

Building vertically as opposed to expanding a single level home can also be more cost effective. Land values are going up, making a single level expansion more expensive than adding a floor onto a home. However, with expanding vertically we have to take into account our possible accessibility needs in the future. A home elevator is a beneficial solution because it adds uniqueness and value to your home while providing all of the additional benefits of comfort, ease and convenience.

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The Audubon Institute – Is old enough to be my great grandmother

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Unlike some environmental groups, they first do no harm. And they do not support quackery. You go guys.

http://www.audubon.org/newsroom/news-stories/2012/because-conservation-doesnt-have-party

Because Conservation Doesn’t Have a Party

By Audubon President & CEO David Yarnold

Published: Oct 16, 2012

New York NY –

You have to get out of shouting range of the politicians in Washington to appreciate what’s really important to Americans.  Americans like Barbra from Arizona: “‘Environment’ is not a swear word, but too often it is treated like one in the halls of our legislatures.”

Barbra is one of thousands of Americans — Republicans, Democrats and independents — who have joined a national grassroots conversation aimed at taking the politics out of conservation and returning preservation of our wilderness land, waterways and wildlife to its original roots as a unifying, rather than divisive force in America.

Judging from responses from all across America, perhaps we are not a nation as divided as our political leaders would like us believe. We’ve heard from angry Republicans.  “Since when did breathing clean fresh air, drinking pure clean water and protecting our precious natural resources and environment become something that only Democrats should value?” wrote Lorrie from Pennsylvania.

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Conservation International – An organization with a history

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These type organizations when founded (1987) were founded for “the long haul”. The belief was then that Humans might damage the Earth but not destroy it. Well here we are,  when it looks like Humans may kill off themselves and maybe permanently in some respects changing the Earth, and these organizations sort of plod on. They need to pick up the pace. While I understand the desire to do good work in the 3rd world. They may want to change the minds help the 1st world countries first.

http://www.conservation.org/Pages/default.aspx

Two Conservation International Leaders Honored by World’s Top Conservationists

September 12, 2012
Conservation International Applauds its President Dr. Russell Mittermeier and Board Member President Ian Khama for receiving Honorary Membership of IUCN at World Conservation Congress

Jeju, South Korea – Conservation International’s long time President, Dr. Russell Mittermeier, a world-renowned  primatologist, herpetologist and conservationist, was granted Honorary Membership today by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the world’s largest international environmental organization. The award was presented at the World Conservation Congress taking place this week in South Korea, on the recommendation of the IUCN Council to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to conservation.

“Russ Mittermeier is an innovative, proactive and scientifically informed conservationist,” declared IUCN on its website.  “A renowned primatologist and herpetologist, he has undertaken extensive field work and made major contributions to the conservation of the fauna of Madagascar, the fauna of South America (especially in Brazil and the Guianas), primates in general, and freshwater turtles worldwide.”

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Environmental Defense Fund – One of my favorite organizations

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To be candid, most of the national environmental organizations suck. They refuse to take local input and when they want something to happen because of a national agenda or a deal they have cut, they will shove it down the local’s throat. Case in point, the Sierra Club and other Environmental Organizations with a base in Chicago want to rip high speed rail straight through Springfield with no consideration for the town’s best interests for the path of that rail line. These guys are a little more sensitive to local issues.

http://www.edf.org/annual-reports/2011

Our mission is to preserve the natural systems on which all life depends.

Guided by science and economics, we find practical and lasting solutions to the most serious environmental problems.

Complete report

Individual chapters

 

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