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March 2005
Flying Wind Turbines
This is an interesting potential solution to two problems of wind generators - the resistance to the visual impact, and the increase in wind-speed (and therefore efficiency) with height above ground.
Flying Windmills:"Here is a possible answer to the questions raised in Saturday's :: Where will the turbines be - 30,000 feet up in the jetstream where the wind is strong and steady. Tethered windmills will rise like helicopters when power is put into them, and then stay up like autogyros spinning in the wind, generating power and sending it down the tether.
The designers, Sky Windpower Corporation, envision clusters with as many as 600 units, generating as much as 12,000 megawatts, far more than your typical nuclear plant. They point out that such systems could easily generate enough power to produce hydrogen through electrolysis.
Worried about airplances being diced and sliced instead of birds? The designers point out that there already are lots of tethered balloons that pilots have learned to avoid- along the US/ Mexican border looking for drug smugglers.
This treehugger is more worried about one of them breaking down and falling- The designers suggest that they be placed near cities but also over uninhabited areas- that's a bit of a contradiction in most of North America- there is almost always somebody down there. :: Sky Windpower Corporation thanks to :: Lawrence Solomon by [LA]"(Via Treehugger.)
Posted by at 8:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Bamboo Shortage Threatens Pandas in China (AP)
Many people don't realise that many species of Bamboo flower in synchrony world-wide and then die, with implications not only for the humans who depend on them:
AP - Giant pandas in western China could be at risk of starvation because the bamboo plants that they eat are beginning to die off in a cycle that happens about every 60 years, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.
(Via Yahoo)
Posted by at 8:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
easybeinggreen: Large scale energy retrofit program
At the Sustainable Living Fair in melbourne in Feb 2005, i was impressed by "easybeinggreen", they have a plan to see 70% of Australian homes reduce energy consumption by 30% in 10 years.
Two things impressed me about the effort
1: Scale, reducing emissions by a few percent is a step in the right direction, but isn't going to keep carbon below 400ppm, and temperature gain below 2 degrees. We urgently need bold attempts that are at the right scale to make substantial difference to our emissions, i.e. reduce consumption by 30% then get the remaining 70% from mostly renewable sources etc.
Related to this, i like the thought they've put into doing things efficiently at scale, for example Nic Frances, described to me the cost-savings from using a cherry-picker to put plumbers onto roofs rather than spending a couple of days building scaffolding and another taking it down.
2: Consumer impact focus, too many people expect people to just do the right thing, with unsurprisingly small take-up. Easybeinggreen have thought through the disruption - everything is done by a multi-discipline team over one or two days. They've also thought through the costing, working with more progressive banks (e.g. ANZ) so that the capital cost is added to existing mortgages, at which point energy savings approximate increased payments.
I hope they can scale their idea beyond their current Melbourne base, and achieve the impacts we desperately need.
Posted by at 1:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Co-authored paper on Self-guarantee in peer-to-peer currencies
I've just co-authored a paper in the International Journal of Community Currency Research with Bernard Lietaer of the Access Foundation on Complementary Currencies. It was a privilege to work with Bernard on this, he's one of the leading thinkers in this field.
The WAT system, as used in Japan, allows for businesses to issue their own tickets (IOU’s) which can circulate as a complementary currency within a community. This paper proposes a variation on that model, where the issuer of a ticket can offer a guarantee, in the form of some goods or services. The difference in value, along with a reasonable acceptance that the issuer is capable of delivering the service or goods, allows for a higher degree of confidence in the ticket, and therefore a greater liquidity.
The paper can be downloaded as DOC (568kb) or PDF (2mb).
The game I developed to demonstrate complementary currencies back in 1985 is still available online.
Posted by at 12:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Zopa - peer to peer banking
I just came across an interesting new banking institution called Zopa.
Zopa matches borrowers and lenders for direct lending between them. It charges 1% flat fee on the loan, and provides the credit protection / debt collection etc services.
Given the lack of innovation and inefficiencies in the banking sector it wouldn't surprise me to see this take off.
Currently its for UK residents only.
Posted by at 9:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)