Category Archives: cool sites

Space Shuttle Disaster – Well it would be if they quit flying it

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Normally I stick to the light commercial/ residential energy consumer markets and grass roots environmental issues. This blog will occasionally address industrial issues especially involving large power generators. The Space Shuttle is so way past industrial that well it’s hard for this blog to comment. I am also very conscious of the 2 we collectively blew up. I lived through both of them and the fire aboard the Apollo 1 space flight testing. That said I think NASA needs to keep flying the Shuttles until they have an effective replacement for it. NASA argues that they don’t have the money or the manpower to do both. I think that is sissy talk myself. The Hubble needs them and so does the International Space Station. We are never leaving this solar system of ours. That’s a fact Jack. Even Asimov said it would take us 100 years to have the infrastructure in place to go to Mars so let’s slow down and get this one right. The first thing we need to do is create an integrated space command so that everyone is flying together.

We need to create reuseable space stuff too. Our orbit is starting to look like a flying garbage dump. We have our stuff scatterred willy nilly over 4 planets besides our own. We have even thrown something out into the galaxy. But throwing stuff away, like Burning Behavior will take several posts.

http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn15145-space-shuttle-is-key-issue-for-obama-agency-says.html

Space shuttle is key issue for Obama, agency says

  • 22:48 06 November 2008
  • NewScientist.com news service
  • Rachel Courtland

Incoming president Barack Obama must decide the shuttle’s fate soon if he wants to keeps its replacement on schedule, the Government Accountability Office says (Image: NASA)

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US president-elect Barack Obama will need to decide soon whether to retire the space shuttle in 2010 or extend its life, a government oversight office said on Thursday.

The space shuttle is one of 13 ‘urgent’ issues that face the next US president, according to a US Government Accountability Office (GAO) list. “These are issues that will require the attention of the President and Congress early on in the next administration,” says GAO spokesperson Chuck Young.

Deciding the fate of the shuttle is particularly time-sensitive, Young says. If the government decides to fly more shuttle missions, it could impact how quickly NASA can move forward with a shuttle replacement, set to be ready to fly by March 2015.

The replacement, the centrepiece of a NASA programme called Constellation, would end a five-year gap in the US’s ability to transport astronauts to space. During the interim, astronauts will have to hitch rides to the International Space Station on Russian Soyuz capsules.

Interdependent programmes

Extending the shuttle’s lifetime means that if “NASA’s budget doesn’t change, it will put Constellation off”, says Cristina Chaplain of the GAO.

But even with more money, NASA may not be able to close the gap in its access to space. That’s because the shuttle and Constellation programmes are interdependent, Chaplain told New Scientist.

The agency needs to free up facilities and personnel that currently maintain the shuttle fleet for work on the replacement vehicle, an Apollo-inspired capsule called Orion that will launch atop the Ares I rocket.

Congress built in time for Obama to decide the shuttle’s fate. NASA is not allowed to take any actions before 30 April 2009 that would prevent the shuttle from flying safely after its scheduled retirement in 2010, according to the agency’s new authorisation act, which passed in October.

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Would you care to bet on that?:

 http://www.hubdub.com/m21244/Will_the_Space_Shuttle_retire_by_the_end_of_2010_as_planned

Will the Space Shuttle

retire by the end of

2010, as planned?

Current forecast: 30% chance

Combining all predictions, the current forecast is that this is 30% likely to happen (unchanged in last 1 day)

The addition of an extra mission to NASA’s space shuttle flight manifest could significantly reduce the chance of retiring the orbiter fleet in 2010 as planned, possibly to as low as 5 percent, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said in a report released Monday [Nov 3, 2008].
The CBO studied risks associated with delaying the space shuttle’s retirement and how that would affect work on the replacement system – consisting of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle and the Ares I launcher – which is expected to debut in 2015.
The report concluded there was a 20 to 60 percent chance NASA would be able to fly all of the 10 scheduled shuttle missions in the next two years. The addition of an 11th mission to transport the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the space station, as Congress has directed, would reduce that probability to between 5 and 30 percent, the CBO report said.
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Then again the way the Orion and the Constellation are going they may have all the time in the world:

 http://www.space.com/news/081104-nasa-shuttle-retirement-cbo.html

 The gap between the shuttle’s retirement and the first flight of Orion and Ares I could widen if NASA cannot keep Orion’s mass from growing during development. Other issues that could delay Orion and Ares I include a longer-than-expected development of Ares I’s J-2X upper-stage engine, difficulties with the Orion’s heat shields and excessive thrust oscillation in Ares 1’s first stage, the CBO report said.

The report also said a $577 million reduction in NASA’s 2007 funding prompted NASA to forego some robotic lunar surface exploration missions, which could delay plans to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020.

The gap between the shuttle’s retirement and the first flight of Orion and Ares I could widen if NASA cannot keep Orion’s mass from growing during development. Other issues that could delay Orion and Ares I include a longer-than-expected development of Ares I’s J-2X upper-stage engine, difficulties with the Orion’s heat shields and excessive thrust oscillation in Ares 1’s first stage, the CBO report said.

The report also said a $577 million reduction in NASA’s 2007 funding prompted NASA to forego some robotic lunar surface exploration missions, which could delay plans to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020.

The gap between the shuttle’s retirement and the first flight of Orion and Ares I could widen if NASA cannot keep Orion’s mass from growing during development. Other issues that could delay Orion and Ares I include a longer-than-expected development of Ares I’s J-2X upper-stage engine, difficulties with the Orion’s heat shields and excessive thrust oscillation in Ares 1’s first stage, the CBO report said.

The report also said a $577 million reduction in NASA’s 2007 funding prompted NASA to forego some robotic lunar surface exploration missions, which could delay plans to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020.

http://www.space.com/common/media/video.php?videoRef=SP_080821_parchute_test

 http://www.space.com/common/media/video.php?videoRef=SP_080721_constellation1

 http://www.space.com/common/media/video.php?videoRef=SP_080721_constellation2

http://www.space.com/common/media/video.php?videoRef=080626-constellation-rock

No To 100 Nukes – Thanks for that.

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We waited breathlessly last night to find out if we would be building 50 nukes with a goal of 100. The answer NAH. Energy drenched America may have finally woken up.

http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/happydays.htm

[Music and Lyrics by J. Yellen and M. Ager]

So long sad times
Go long bad times
We are rid of you at last

Howdy gay times
Cloudy gray times
You are now a thing of the past

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let’s sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again

Altogether shout it now
There’s no one
Who can doubt it now
So let’s tell the world about it now
Happy days are here again

Your cares and troubles are gone
There’ll be no more from now on
From now on …

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So, Let’s sing a song of cheer again

Happy times
Happy nights
Happy days
Are here again!

Contact NIEHS (NIH, DHHS)
Children’s Privacy and Other Disclaimers
NIEHS Sing-Along Index
NIEHS Kids Page Main Index

To Continue In The Halloween Spirit I give you Frankenstein! Oh god the little kiddies love their candy

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OK so it is really the Miami Museum of Science Exhibit on electricity safety. But shouldn’t it be Frankensteen?:

http://www.miamisci.org/af/sln/frankenstein/index.html

 franktitle.gif

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With lessons like this:

What is young Dracula doing wrong? If you guessed “using a hair dryer near water” you’re right!

Hair dryers and water don’t mix, and can be very dangerous! Never use a hair dryer near water and never place a hair dryer in water.

If you see a hair dryer or any other electrical appliance in or near water, stay away and go tell your parents or an adult!

Remember: Electricity and water don’t mix!

vandergraphanimate.gif 

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And messages like this:

What is the young Mummy doing wrong? If you guessed “putting something near a lamp” you’re right!

Lamps use electricity to make light and can get very hot! If things get to close to a hot lamp they can catch on fire!

Never place anything near or inside the lamp shade. The lamp shade acts as the lamp’s safety zone. Nothing should be inside this safety zone.

Remember: Lamps can get very hot! Never place anything near or inside the lamp shade.

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Wish they would have know that at GE when they first started making these:

http://www.mikeholt.com/mojonewsarchive/Safety-HTML/HTML/State-to-Warn-About-Halide-Light-Dangers~20050314.php 

January 31, 2005Oregon schools, warehouses and businesses will soon be getting a state safety warning about the potential danger of ultraviolet exposure from cracked metal halide lights.State officials said they will also notify the federal government about an unusual but very real danger of severe “sunburn” and irritated eyes that can come from such exposure.The warnings follow a November incident that left about 80 Lake Oswego teachers suffering a range of symptoms after being exposed to ultraviolet radiation from a cracked metal halide bulb burning in a school gym.It was similar to a 2000 incident in which several spectators at a junior high basketball game in Sutherlin suffered from sore eyes and skin rashes that resembled sunburn.An environmental specialist hired by the state estimated that those sitting directly under the cracked light in Lake Oswego would have received a full day’s exposure to ultraviolet radiation in just eight minutes.

Metal halide lights are common in large spaces because of the bright, white rays they emit.

But a 1980 federal Food and Drug Administration directive says only metal halide bulbs that self-extinguish when cracked should be used in places where people could be exposed for more than a few minutes, unless other safety precautions are in place.

The FDA also ordered that warnings be placed on the packaging of metal halide lights that don’t self-extinguish.

Last week, the Oregon office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration concluded an investigation that found many school districts and other employers are not aware of the danger of ultraviolet radiation.

The Lake Oswego incident happened when a metal halide light in the Bryant Elementary School gym in Lake Oswego was struck by a volleyball Oct. 18. The district maintenance staff didn’t change the bulb because, although cracked, it was still emitting light.

But a four-hour teacher training session in the gym in November left many teachers with symptoms ranging from sensitive skin to burned corneas and temporary blindness.

Teachers union president Kathy Lundeen said although doctors told teachers their symptoms should soon subside, “more than a handful” of teachers are still suffering dry eyes and sensitivity to light more than two months after the incident.

“I don’t think anyone should have to go through what the employees have gone through here,” Lundeen said.

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A final one:

What is the young Wolf Man doing wrong? If you guessed “placing something on top of a power cord” you’re right!

Placing objects on top of power cords can damage them, causing power shortages or even fires!

Remember: Don’t place objects on top of power cords.

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But this is my favorite:

 atomsmall2.gif
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Just In Time For Halloween – Want to be buried in a reef?

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I have heard of sleeping with the fishes but how would you like to be turned into a reef. Help the sea, help the sea life and help the environment in general. Kind of hard for relatives to visit but I guess they give you photos:

 http://www.welt.de/english-news/article2615803/Sea-burials-help-rebuild-reefs.html

Sea burials help rebuild reefs

23.October 2008, 15:21

A company is marketing a service for those who want to help the environment in the afterlife, or forever be part of the memories at a sports stadium. They are offering a burial service that is supposed to be an environmentally friendly and less expensive alternative to traditional burials.

 How is it done? Cremated remains are mixed into the concrete used to make so-called reef balls that it places at sites along the U.S. East Coast.

Tags

Those interested in helping build a reef in a body of water don’t have to wait until they die, said Eternal Reefs CEO George Frankel.

“Not at all, but when you do, it is a great way to help the bay,“ Frankel said.

The concept developed from reef-building efforts by the Reef Ball Foundation, which has placed more than a half-million of the concrete domes worldwide. Many want to mark a birth or other special occasion, while others simply want to foster underwater life. A memorial reef ball costs between $2,495 and $6,495, although the cost of cremation is not included, he said.

The Chesapeake Bay site on the U.S. East Coast where eight of the memorials were placed earlier this month, for example, already has about 600 put there by a variety of groups and organizations above the rubble from Memorial Stadium, the former home of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team in Maryland.

The burial service is one of a growing number of funeral alternatives ranging from having your ashes launched into space, compressed into a diamond or buried in a biodegradable urn. In the waters off Miami, the Neptune Memorial Reef offers an underwater burial place for cremated remains, as well as an attraction for divers who can swim among its gates, paths and statuary.

 Sylvia Rennick of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, said the idea of her son’s memorial helping the Chesapeake Bay appealed to her more than a traditional cemetery plot.

“You’re around live things, it’s not all dead,“ Rennick said before her son’s memorial was lowered by crane onto the reef under sunny skies as family members threw flowers into the bay and read poems.

Afterward, she said the crew gave another of her sons the chart location of the site and he planned to visit it when he went fishing.

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They borrowed the idea from these folks:

 http://www.reefball.org/index.html

The Reef Ball Foundation is a 501(c) 3 publicly supported non-profit and international environmental NGO working to rehabilitate marine reefs.

Our mission is to rehabilitate our world’s oceanreef ecosystems and to protect our natural reef systems using Reef Ball artificial reef technologies. Reef Balls are artificial reef modules placed in the ocean to form reef habitat.

We have placed Reef Balls™ in 59+ countries and our projects have a global reach of 70+ countries.  We have conducted over 3,500 projects and deployed over 1/2 million Reef Balls.

Our projects include designed artificial reefs, ground breaking coral propagation and planting systems, estuary restoration, red mangrove plantings, oyster reef restoration, erosion control (often beach erosion), and expert collaberation on a variety of oceanic issues.

We work with governments, other NGOs, businesses, schools, research institutes, private individuals and community organizations and emphasize education on preserving and protecting our natural reefs.

 (WIKI Reef Ball Foundation for history/facts)

NEW! Reef Ball “Live” Updates
Post or View Current Reef Ball Project Activities.
Our Chairman posts updates here on a regular basis.

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Here is what they look like, new with you in them.

 possib5.jpg

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Here is what they look like after you have been in the reef for awhile.

 possib3.jpg

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If you are looking for other companies willing to burn you, put you in cement shoes and plant you in the ocean:

http://www.eternalreefs.com/about/foundation.html

ETERNAL REEFS

Our Story
Eternal Reefs began simply. In the late 1980’s a pair of college roommates from the University of Georgia often went diving off the Keys in Florida on breaks. Over the years of diving they saw significant deterioration and degradation of the reefs they were visiting. Don Brawley, founder of Eternal Reefs realized the reefs needed help. A decision was made to do something about the reefs’ declining health.

Once the friends were out of school they began to talk about what contributions they could make that would help protect and restore these fragile eco-systems. Creating a material and system that would replicate the natural marine environment that supports coral and microorganism development was what they decided to do. And thus the concept of the Reef Ball was formed – to directly rehabilitate and rebuild the dying reefs and to add new habitat to the marine environment.

They faced two primary design challenges. Stability would be crucial. The design needed to be capable of absorbing and dissipating energy in the marine environment without moving. It would need to withstand not just the normal tidal and current flows, but also major storms and the dynamic energy impacts that accompany them.
In 1990, the Reef Ball Development Group and the Reef Ball Foundation completed the first Reef Ball project near Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Since that time, there have been over 3,500 projects worldwide with more than 400,000 Reef Balls placed on the ocean floor. With years of documented history of stability and habitat development, Reef Balls have become the world standard for fisheries programs, coral restoration and habitat development projects.

In 1998, Carleton Glen Palmer, Don Brawley’s father-in-law, talked about having his cremated remains put in a reef. As Carleton put it, “I can think of nothing better than having all that action going on around me all the time after I am gone – just make sure that the location has lots of red snapper and grouper.” Shortly after Carleton made this request, he passed away.

https://www.nmreef.com/

NEPTUNE MEMORIAL REEF

The Neptune Memorial Reef project is the largest man made reef ever conceived and provides an extraordinary living resting place for the departed, an environmental and ecological masterpiece, a superb laboratory for marine biologists, students, researchers and ecologists, and an aesthetically exquisite, world-class destination for visitors from all walks of life.       

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Green Sex Life – Yes its true, you can do it in the dark

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OKOKOK talk about pandering:

 http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/sex/index.html

How to Go Green Sex..:}

[by Jacob Gordon]

Whether you’re single and playing the field, settled down with that special someone, or someplace in between, most of us consider good, satisfying, sexy sex an important part of this complete breakfast. It might not be the first thing we think of while working towards a sustainable and graceful life on this fragile planet, but there’s a lot we can do to make our sex lives greener. In the process of greening the ecological footprint of our love making, we might also open up some new doors to deeper pleasure, satisfaction, and romantic connection.

Buzz up!I can’t go on but for more you can go here: 

http://evilbeet.blogspot.com/2007/03/green-sex.html http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/04/13/gree.DTL

http://blogs.takepart.com/2008/04/09/top-10-ways-to-green-up-your-sex-life/ 

http://buzzfeed.com/buzz/Green_Sex

 http://www.eartherotics.com/

 http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/eco-sex-guide

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/03/eco_kink_japans.php

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19333870/

 http://www.usnews.com/blogs/fresh-greens/2008/10/15/sex-sells-green-pinup-girl-calendars.html

I could go on but I think they already have.

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They Say Environmentalist’s Have No Sense Of Humor – But we do But we do But

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My favorite humorist right now is Dan Piraro who allows me to steal his cartoons shamelessly (well I have some but don’t tell him). He does environmental stuff about 4 times a year and I try to give him a little extra boost. (like he needs it and we give him what maybe 3 extra viewers) So with out further dodo here it is:

http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/

windmills.jpg

Electric Cars – Why to the fiddlers and the inventers produce cheap working models

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when the leading car manufacturers (all of them) can’t? Because they can’t imagine a world with out gasoline.

http://gas2.org/2008/10/14/texas-teen-builds-his-own-electric-car-on-10000-budget/

Texas Teen Builds His Own Electric Car on $10,000 Budget

Written by Andrew Williams

Published on October 14th, 2008

48 Comments

Posted in Electric Cars (EVs)

bradley.jpg

 

 http://www.nbc5i.com/money/17711996/detail.html

 

SAN ANTONIO — The sky-high cost of gasoline has major auto manufacturers racing to build battery-powered cars that can be charged from household outlets.

Then there’s 17-year-old Lucas Laborde, who plans to drive to high school this fall in an electric car he built in his father’s shop in San Antonio.

Laborde, known as “Luke” to most of his family and friends, spent about 150 hours over the summer converting a gas-powered car to battery power. When it’s finished, the car can be certified as street-legal with a state inspection.

“I’ve test-driven it around the block,” says Laborde, a senior at the International School of the Americas. “But there’s a couple of things to fix, like the windshield wipers. Then we’ll get it inspected.”

Laborde’s father, Ralph, bankrolled the project and provided some technical training and assistance.

“I showed him how to use a grinder, a SawzAll and a drill and stuff like that,” says the father, who owns River City Hydraulics Inc., a hydraulics maintenance and repair company near downtown San Antonio. “He just went to town on it.”

Companies such as GM and Ford have spent several years and millions of dollars in an attempt to develop mass-produced battery-powered cars and hybrids, such as the recently announced Chevy Volt and an experimental, plug-in version of the Ford Escape.

Luke Laborde’s electric car is based on a kit car known as a Bradley GT II. The Bradley conversions, built in the 1970s with chassis, engines and transmissions from VW Beetles, have Fiberglas bodies and futuristic styling, including gull-wing doors.

Ralph Laborde bought his son’s Bradley on eBay for $5,000. The car only had a few thousand miles on it and its gas-burning, air-cooled and rear-mounted engine got between 32 and 35 miles per gallon. But the goal was to switch completely to electricity, so the father spent another $4,700 for electric conversion parts and $1,000 for batteries.

After that, creation of the car depended on Luke Laborde and his ingenuity. For instance, he found space for eight 80-pound batteries in several creative locations in the small vehicle, including the void left after removal of the fuel tank in the nose of the car.

 http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/WireHeadlines/2008/10/15/texas-teen-builds-electric-car-over-summ-28.php

The car’s deep-cycle, 12-volt, lead-acid batteries are hooked up in series. They provide a total of 96 volts of current to an electric motor mounted in the reconstituted Beetle’s trunk, where its gasoline engine used to reside. Gauges mounted on the car’s instrument panel now include one for amperage to show how much current the electric motor is drawing and another one for voltage to let Laborde know when his batteries are running low. The car uses the Bradley’s original transmission, a manual four-speed, but the clutch is no longer needed to change gears. The car has a top speed of about 45 mph — plenty fast for in-town commuting and lots of low-end torque. The motor doesn’t make any sound, but Laborde inadvertently makes the rear tires chirp when he steps on the accelerator a little too hard while backing the car out of his father’s shop.

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Barack Obama’s Global Warming Policies – OH he calls it Climate Change as well

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Obama’s Climate Change Initiatives are kinda short, but at least he addresses energy conservation. This in a country that should only use 9% of the world’s energy but uses 25% instead.

 http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/newenergy_more#emissions

Reduce our Greenhouse Gas Emissions 80 Percent by 2050

  • Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.The Obama-Biden cap-and-trade policy will require all pollution credits to be auctioned, and proceeds will go to investments in a clean energy future, habitat protections, and rebates and other transition relief for families.
  • Make the U.S. a Leader on Climate Change. Obama and Biden will re-engage with the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) — the main international forum dedicated to addressing the climate problem. They will also create a Global Energy Forum of the world’s largest emitters to focus exclusively on global energy and environmental issues.

« Return to New Energy for America

 Create Millions of New Green Jobs

  • Ensure 10 percent of Our Electricity Comes from Renewable Sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
  • Deploy the Cheapest, Cleanest, Fastest Energy Source — Energy Efficiency.Obama and Biden will set an aggressive energy efficiency goal — to reduce electricity demand 15 percent from projected levels by 2020.
  • Weatherize One Million Homes Annually. Obama and Biden will make a national commitment to weatherize at least one million low-income homes each year for the next decade, which can reduce energy usage across the economy and help moderate energy prices for all.
  • Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology.Obama’s Department of Energy will enter into public private partnerships to develop five “first-of-a-kind” commercial scale coal-fired plants with clean carbon capture and sequestration technology.
  • Prioritize the Construction of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline. As president, Obama will work with stakeholders to facilitate construction of the pipeline. Not only is this pipeline critical to our energy security, it will create thousands of new jobs.

« Return to New Energy for America

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Well at least with Obama it is short enough that people will likely read through it. Still there is the nasty Cap and Trade stuff that will do no good for anyone. We are up against some very hard changes that we need to make in our industrial infastructure. Coal and Oil just won’t cut it as energy sources anymore. Clean Coal technology is a myth. While Obama talks about cutting emmission by 80% he does not say whether that is current emmissions or the 1990 emmission levels. Again there is just enough GOOD energy policy here to give one hope, but enough BAD energy policy here to think that he is pandering again.

AND the Winner is? Try back on Monday this has tuckered me out. 

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Barack Obama’s Energy Policies – Why pander to the Public?

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I find it a bit galling that Obama starts off his Energy Policy section with the section below. Yes everyone has been hurt by speculation enabled by Phil and Wendy Gramm who canceled the depression era Glass-Steagall Act. This brought us ENRON and then all the commodity speculation after the dollar shed it’s value like a winter coat on a summer day. But DEAL with that! Double the oil companies taxes if you must, but do it up front. Windfall Profit taxes never produce any money and it is sooooo Jimmy Carter.

If you wanted bold energy policy why not announce that you were going to ban the sale of gasoline by 2015? That would drop the price of gasoline into the toilet, divert oil to our real needs which is pharmacueticals and restructure our energy future in one clean break. If you wanted real productive energy policy, follow that with a ban on using oil and natural gas in plastics. That would leave most of the oil and coal where it belongs…IN the ground. Instead we get this:

 http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/newenergy_more#relief

Provide Short-term Relief to American Families

  • Enact a Windfall Profits Tax to Provide a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate to American Families.Obama and Biden will enact a windfall profits tax on excessive oil company profits to give American families an immediate $1,000 emergency energy rebate to help families pay rising bills. This relief would be a down payment on the Obama-Biden long-term plan to provide middle-class families with at least $1,000 per year in permanent tax relief.
  • Crack Down on Excessive Energy Speculation. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will close energy industry market loopholes and increase transparency to prevent traders from unfairly lining their pockets, while driving up oil prices at the expense of the American people.
  • Swap Oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Cut Prices. With oil prices doubling in the past year, Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we have an economic emergency that requires a limited, responsible swap of light oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) for heavy crude oil to help bring down prices at the pump.

« Return to New Energy for America

Fast Super Efficient Houses – Why is America so far behind?

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This is at one time really cool, a really cool site and depressing if you live in the heart of the energy hog.

http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/09/12/sustainable-homes-from-easy-domes/

easydomes2.jpg

:} I can’t say enough about this publication. Its great! :}

 Echoing the structures of Buckminster Fuller’s Geodesic Domes, Danish Architect Kári Thomsen and Engineer Ole Vanggaard have created Easy Domes, a series of quick assembly, low-energy homes! Following the success of the first Easy Dome home built in 1992 for the Greenland Society on The Faroe Islands, a number of dome-shaped cottages were erected as tourist getaways. Since then, the buildings have been put into production and delivery of these fabulous prefab buildings was initiated early this summer!

The unique shape of the Easy Dome, called an icosahedron, is designed to optimize the amount of interior space inside each home. Made up of several hexagonal pieced together, the dome hosts a wealth of interior nooks and crannies, making it stand out from other prefab home designs.

The dome offers individuals the opportunity to build their own high quality homes, coming with pre-built wooden sections, ready to assemble on either a concrete or timber plinth. Once on site, the dome houses take only one day to raise and seal, and for domes less than 500 square feet, no crane is needed to complete construction. The load construction is extremely strong and built for extreme weather, including wind speeds of 200 mph with one meter of wet snow on the roof.

The completed two-floor homes come with living room, kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms and are constructed using only sustainable and recycled materials. The exterior is covered with non-toxic impregnated pinewood, and the roof is covered with grass. The construction is ventilated on the exterior and insulated with wood-wool or flax, with fiber gypsum to cover all installations and cables. The floor is made up of a plate of reinforced concrete with pressure-resistant insulation and vitrified gravel underneath. Laying on top of the concrete are insulation and floorboards. Furthermore, each home is installed with solar panels and a brick stove, both of which are thermostat-controlled and connected to a water tank. Other renewable energy systems are also available

With a minimum use of materials, the domes are sustainable, energy efficient, spacious and cost-efficient. There is also the potential to erect two or three domes together.

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You can find much more at their site:

 http://www.easydomes.com/

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The Easy Domes concept sets up for advantages in a very quick and easy assembling and raising of the building and its finish. On a concrete or timber basic it takes one day to raise and seal the construction which is made of quality plywood and 3×4? to 3×6″ timber in pinewood.

All sections are premade and ready to assemble with bolts and nuts and the sealing of the edges with asphaltpaper or rubber. The climate shelter and finish out – and inside are also precutted plates / sections ready for mounting.

Floor, partition walls and windows and doors are offered as the house by this becomes ready for kitchen, bathroom, furniture, lamps and other installations done by the dome owner.

The Easy Domes products are certified and of high quality and precision made materials fullfilling  international building rules and standards.  Transport is easy in container  and no crane is needed to erect buildings untill the 50 sq.ft. domes.

As domes are geometrical structures optimized on loads and climate conditions – with a minimum use of materials –  advantages are reached in a sustainable, energy efficient and  spatial building on a very suitable cost level.