December 7, 2014 As at previous similar conventions, there is agreement on the overall goal, not on who should do what, when, and pay how much. Rather than repeating the entire list of disagreements, the following might become the basis for a possible compromise. The overall goal is to reduce … Continue reading
Category Archives: Energy
Australian Solar Panels 40% Efficient
December 7, 2014 Researchers at the University of New South Wales announced that they were able to convert more than 40% of sunlight hitting panels into electricity. The tests were replicated at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the United States. A similar breakthrough (44.7%) at the Fraunhofer Institute for … Continue reading
Climate Change & Lima, Peru 2014
December 2, 2014 The ongoing United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (December 1 through 12, 2014) in Lima must not fail to slow, and eventually halt, the use of fossil fuels and nuclear energy to generate electricity. That would greatly reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the … Continue reading
The Caribbean
G-20 Infrastructure Commitment On November 16, 2014 leaders of G-20 nations in Brisbane, Australia presented a plan to boost global GDP by more than $2 trillion over five years by investing in infrastructure and increasing trade. Presumably the infrastructure they have in mind will include projects to reduce the use … Continue reading
Better Than Grid Parity
Electricity in Hawaii costs $0.38 per kilowatt hour, almost treble the national average of around $0.13, which incidentally does not factor in the damage to the environment caused by using fossil fuels to generate electricity. Solar power, which can cost $0.30 per KWH, is now actually cheaper than grid electricity. … Continue reading
Solar Power Economics
October 24, 2014 Here’s an example –albeit of limited scope- of how solar power could be used to reduce unemployment. An Arizona-based private company will build a 60-megawatt solar power plant on 600 acres of dry, vacant land near Mendota, California, a drought-stricken community with near 30% unemployment about 25 … Continue reading
The Conquest of Drought
Speaking at Brookings on the economics of climate change, Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew remarked that “the cost of inaction or delay is far greater than the cost of action.” The fact of the matter is that there is no national or international consensus among leaders on what, if … Continue reading
Solar Power With Gold Nanocluster Technology
Western scientists revolutionize solar power with new “gold nanocluster” technology September 25, 2014 Scientists at Western University have discovered that a small molecule created with just 144 atoms of gold can increase solar cell performance by more than 10 per cent. These findings, published recently by the high-impact journal Nanoscale, … Continue reading
Drawbacks
October 15, 2014 Lockheed Martin announced that it has made a fusion-related technological breakthrough. It would use deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen found in the ocean, to generate nearly 10 million times more energy that the same amount of fossil fuels. There would be no radioactive waste. At first glance … Continue reading
Conversion Factors
Various measures, conversions and definitions used for hydrogen systems STP = standard temperature/pressure = 0°C (32°f) and 1 bar (≈1 atmosphere). Some references say STP is 25°C (77°f), reason unknown. NTP = normal temperature/pressure = 20°C (68°f) and 1 atm (atmosphere). Functionally, NTP is almost the same as STP, and … Continue reading