Dive into the archives.
- Reviving OTEC
[Most extreme temperature differences between surface and deep oceanic waters.]
Shelved in the early 1970s after realizing the project was technologically possible but economically untenable, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, or OTEC, is witnessing a revival. While many gave up on this, such as NREL, now even energy novices like Lockheed Martin are getting back in on [...]
- Vortex Induced Vibrations
A Vortex-Induced Vibration. The flow is moving from right to left via. creative commons
A team of researchers lead by Professor Michael Bernitsas at the University of Michigan has invented a device with the potential to serve a vast amount of the world’s populace with clean energy. VIVACE (Vortex-Induced Vibrations for Aquatic Clean Energy) [...]
- Methane Capture: Agri-Alchemy
[Estimated aggregated distribution of pigs, poultry, cattle, and small ruminants. Source: FAO, 2006g.]
In a recent summary report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Livestock's Long Shadow), trillions of farm animals across the globe were found to generate a whopping 18% of CO2 emissions. That is more than cars, buses, and airplanes. [...]
- Harnessing the Energy from the Earth’s Rotation
[The Rotation of the Earth via Creative Commons.]
New advances in tidal power hint at the massive amount of rotational energy located within the earth. As early as the 1970s, the Soviet Union was exploring methods to harness this rotational energy directly. The prominence of the current energy crisis has sparked new research by physicists to [...]
- Student Works: Arisaig's Sea Vegetable Complex
[Seaweed as a natural resource, process and product and the physical manifestations of each. (All images by James Tait)]
We read with great interest of the project by James Tait at the University of Strathclyde and his award-winning proposal for a seaweed farm in the northwest coastal villages of Scotland. His project is titled "Time and [...]
- Little White Lies
[Keller Easterling's Some True Stories]
If you are within earshot of New York sometime before the remainder of the year, do not miss Keller Easterling's "Some True Stories: researches in the field of flexible truth." It runs from Nov 18 – Dec 23 2008 at the always reliable Storefront for Art and Architecture. Easterling and her [...]
- Dam Politics in the 'Stans
[The Nurek Dam in Tajikistan forms this massive 10.5 km³ reservoir. Photo by Carolyn Drake for The New York Times.]
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many freshly independent Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan, were dealt either a strong or poor hand with regard to land resources. Reading in the NYTimes on Sunday, Tajikistan [...]
- Tidal Turbines
[Severn Tidal Fence]
The idea of a tidal fence / barrage has been kicking around for almost 100 years as a means for flood control, transport, and potentially tidal power. The last 20 years years has seen an increase interest in tidal energy harvesting, though many countries, such as Canada, have completely sworn it off. One [...]
- Burying CO2
[Ideal spots for sequestering CO2 off the coast of Oregon.]
Many have viewed "carbon sequestration" — taking the CO2 produced by burning coal and burying it underground — as a major component of combating climate change. However, there are many questions about the plan — most notably, just where a major emitter like the US could [...]
