Beyond Irene: The Future Of Hurricanes

Posted on August 29, 2011 by quest

By Natalie Wolchover - Hurricane Irene battered the East Coast this weekend, blasting buildings and trees that hadn’t felt such strong winds in decades, and flooding subways, tunnels and entire coastal neighborhoods.
Thankfully, Irene diminished in strength before making landfall on the Mid-Atlantic Coast and New England; though she is estimated to have caused $7 billion in damages, things could have been a lot worse. And atmospheric scientists say they will be.
They warn that hurricanes will get more destructive in the future. And as oceans warm, more and more of the strongest storms will creep north.

Warm seas
About 90 tropical cyclones form worldwide each year; that pace hasn’t changed recently. Rather than causing more hurricanes and typhoons to develop, the 0.5-degree Celsius rise in tropical sea surface temperatures that has occurred over the past 30 years seems to have another effect. As Colorado State atmospheric scientist James Elsner ominously put it: “The strongest storms are getting stronger.”

Hurricanes are like heat engines, Elsner explained. When the ocean puts more heat in, more energy comes out in the form of faster winds that blow for longer. As detailed in a 2008 paper in Nature (and in later studies analyzing subsequent hurricane seasons), he and his colleagues have noticed a steady upward trend in the maximum wind speed of the strongest hurricanes. For the top fifth most intense hurricanes, wind speeds have increased by 4.5 miles per hour per degree-Celsius rise in the ocean temperature. For storms in the top 10th of the intensity ranking, wind speeds have increased by 14.5 mph per degree Celsius. That’s a jump of almost an entire category on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale that rates

Fabien Cousteau, Keynote Speaker at Ecotourism Conference

Solar Solutions In Effect at LA’s Walter J Towers

Posted on August 28, 2011 by quest

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) General Manager Ronald O. Nichols and other city officials today celebrated the completion of one of the largest infill solar panel projects in central Los Angeles. Located at the Walter J Towers at 1930 Wilshire Boulevard, the project is managed by LA Building Management and was designed and built by LA-based ReGreen Corporation, with design input from both LADWP and the LA Department of Building and Safety (LADBS). Dr. Walter Jayasinghe (j’eye-ya-SING-ha), a Los Angeles physician who emigrated from Sri Lanka as a young man, owns the Walter J Towers.

Dr. Walter Jayasinghe is an enthusiastic supporter of employing technology to reduce energy consumption, as well as costs. “I’ve dedicated my life to helping people restore and maintain their health,“ said Dr. Jayasinghe. “In a sense, these solar panels and other steps we’ve taken to reduce energy consumption at Walter J Towers are small but tangible actions toward helping maintain the health of this neighborhood and the planet.” The Walter J Towers solar panel project uses 1,185 photovoltaic panels, elevated above the building’s surface parking lot, which will reduce the building’s annual energy costs by 30%. “Going solar was the right thing to do for our business, our tenants and this community,” stated Dilan Jayasinha, President of LA Building Management. “Putting such a large project in such a relatively small space that’s outfitted with older infrastructure required substantial planning and expertise. ReGreen delivered and everybody wins.

“Dr. Walter Jayasinghe‘s story highlights how investing in solar isn’t just good for the environment, it is good for a business’s bottom line,” Mayor Villaraigosa said. “We are working with our business community for more innovative and forward-thinking companies to reap the environmental and economic benefits of DWP’s Solar Incentive Program.” “This is a great example of using local renewable energy to reduce energy costs. The collaboration between LADWP, ReGreen Corporation and Mr. Jayasinghe on this solar project will reduce energy costs for the Walter J. Towers and support the LADWP’s efforts to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels,” said LADWP General Manager Ronald O. Nichols. “With the September 1 re-launch of our popular solar incentive rebate program, we look forward to working with many other City businesses and residents interested in achieving similar benefits through solar power.”

Solar power in California

Berkeley and Stanford Racing in 2011 World Solar Challenge

Posted on August 26, 2011 by quest

Panasonic Corporation of North America has announced their support for student teams in the Darwin-to-Adelaide, 3,021-kilometer 2011 World Solar Challenge in Australia this October. Panasonic is providing the latest Lithium Ion battery technologies for use with solar-powered vehicles engineered by undergraduate teams from the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University in the seven day drive through the Australian Outback. Yesterday’s announcement came at Infineon Raceway’s first Accelerating Sustainable Performance Summit, a day-long forum for innovators and thought-leaders to explore prospects for sustainable automotive development and performance-oriented marketing of green cars. Peter Fannon, Vice President, Technology Policy, Panasonic Corporation of North America was on hand to wish the two teams the best of luck in proving their innovative solar car designs in the grueling Australian Outback environment.

“These teams are truly proving the power of nature’s most ubiquitous fuel, the sun, and helping advance the time when sun power can be a routine part of transportation, and more in our daily lives,” said Mr. Fannon. “Panasonic is pleased to be part of realizing this vision.”In addition to the Lithium Ion batteries that will power the vehicles, Panasonic will also equip the two teams with ruggedized LUMIX digital cameras and Full HD camcorders to enable them to record their performance in the 1,877 mile vehicle endurance test. Although the cars competing in the World Solar Challenge are powered by solar energy, the sun’s rays are converted to electricity, which must be stored when not used immediately. This excess energy is stored in high-efficiency Lithium Ion batteries and is then used to power the vehicles when solar power is not feasible, for example, when it is cloudy or at night.

A prestigious event that attracts the world’s best technical universities and colleges, the World Solar Challenge aims to help discover new automotive technologies that rely on the power of the sun by engaging student teams to develop electric vehicles for a week-long race across the Australian Outback. Currently in its 11th year, the 2011 event will host teams from all over the world to participate in the 3,021-kilometer journey. Dedicated to the goal of becoming the number one green business innovation leader in the electronics industry by 2018, Panasonic pledges to practice prudent, sustainable use of the earth’s natural resources and protect our environment through the company’s Eco Ideas programs.

Japan Energy Law To Cut Nukes, Boost Solar, Wind

Clean Cities TV Produces Electric Vehicle Video

Posted on August 24, 2011 by quest

Internet TV Network, TV Worldwide , recently completed production and launch of a training video on home installation and inspection requirements for Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE). The video was created for Clean Cities TV , the educational Internet TV channel the company produces, in support of the U.S. Department of Energy‘s Clean Cities program. The video provides vital information for electrical contractors and inspectors as they assist homeowners in ensuring that proper residential EVSE standards, practices and safety precautions are followed.
The video is part of a series of live and recorded educational Internet programs on the Clean Cities TV channel. CCTV was launched in April to support Clean Cities and its mission to reduce U.S. petroleum consumption through the use of alternative and renewable fuels, idle reduction, fuel economy measures, and new emerging technologies.

The new video features input from experts who have been engaged in the development of standards and specifications for proper design and installation of EVSEs. These approaches are customized to support a full spectrum of residential applications. “Proper EVSE installation is so vital to the national goal to get 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015, so it is very rewarding to support this effort, deploying our Internet TV capabilities to educate and inform,” stated Dave Gardy, Chairman and CEO of TV Worldwide.

TV Worldwide’s network of Internet TV channels currently offers several different target demographic audiences, including the National League of Cities TV , produced in cooperation with the National League of Cities. “We’re making sure that viewers on other channels such as our NLC TV audience of 22,000 city decision makers in 1,600 member cities are aware of this content, not only from the standpoint of what constituents need to know about residential installations, but also because of the future decisions city leaders need to make in deploying charging installations at the municipal level. We’re learning that across all alternative fuel technologies, once cities know about Clean Cities program solutions that have been deployed successfully, they find real savings — an important consideration in this time of tight municipal budgets,” Gardy said.

Food Sustainability Forum to be held at Claremont Resort

Green Icon Lays Out Facts Of The Green Economy

Posted on August 23, 2011 by quest

Written by Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins: Chief Executive Officer of Green For All. Since 2008, these two things haven’t changed: the world is getting warmer and millions of Americans are out of work. They’re not going away any time soon.
Green For All was founded on the idea that those two problems could be relieved with a common solution, green jobs. We’ve seen that this can work; renewable energy businesses are among the fastest growing in the American economy.
We’ve also learned that the green economy holds much more promise than just renewables. The scope of jobs that improve our environment runs from factory workers building high-efficiency vehicles to entrepreneurs selling organic skincare products to businesses that turn a profit recycling waste from shredded automobiles.

In July, the Brookings Institution released a report detailing the extent of the green economy. Some 2.7 million Americans work at green jobs – more than work in the fossil fuel industry. The US Conference of Mayors estimates that number will almost triple by 2040. And green jobs are quality jobs. Median wages are 13 percent higher than the median – and they’re available to more Americans who have a high school degree. Investment in clean energy projects yields more than three times as many jobs as investing in fossil fuels.

Even so, there is a lot of room for growth. Back in 2008, we argued that the green economy held great promise – and could grow to scale if Congress acted boldly. Had Congress passed comprehensive climate legislation, for example, or if they’d enacted the

In Ohio SolarVision Taking Solar Mainstream

Student Increases Solar Energy The Way Trees Do

Posted on August 23, 2011 by quest

By Leah Bush – Northport Middle School student Aidan Dwyer applied a mathematical principle found in trees to improve the performance of solar panels. Dwyer has accomplished more in his life than most people three times his age. He sails, he golfs– and he is a patented innovator of solar panel arrangements. Dwyer applied the Fibonacci sequence, a mathematical principle widely occurrent in nature, to solar panel arrays in a months-long backyard experiment. He found that small solar panels arranged according to the Fibonacci sequence found in tree branches produced 20 percent more energy than flat panel arrays, and prolonged the collection window by up to two and a half hours. Most remarkably, the elegant tree design out-performed the flat panel array during winter exposure, when the sun is at its lowest point, by up to 50 percent.

Dwyer received a proclamation from the Town of Huntington on Tuesday for his accomplishments in the field of natural science. His most recent innovation was also honored by the Museum of Natural History in New York, which dubbed him a “2011 Young Naturalist” in July, alongside only 12 other students nationwide in grades 7 through 12. Dwyer has been awarded a provisional patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for his innovation, which he says has garnered a lot of interest. When asked just how many entities expressed interest, he simply stated, “alot.”

Outside of precocious pursuits, 13-year-old Dwyer is a regular kid. He loves to sail around Northport Bay in his Optimist and play golf with his family. He is also a kind soul and said he will remain dedicated to scientific discovery in the interest of the greater good when he grows up. “I’m interested in science because it helps the world,” he said. Source: By Leah Bush - NorthPortPatch