Category: Environment

Categories
Environment Solar car Sports

[132] Of Ohio trip and solar cell testing

Guess what?
I’m going to Ohio this weekend for solar modules testing at ****** *****’s facilities. I am looking forward for the trip. There are going to be four of us – me, Mirai, Jeremy and Ivan. Anastasia might come too. Basically, we are going to test all the solar modules and make sure that they are working properly.

After more than six months being with the team, I am starting to really enjoy it.

Currently, I am responsible for the solar car solar module, one of the most important aspects of the car. I am glad to say that my knowledge in solar power as increase not merely in theory but also in practical sense.

The Solar Car Team means a lot to me and becoming more personal. Instead of just a project to win the ACS and WSC, I am constantly making new friends outside of my division. There are lots of friends over there that I do feel comfortable chatting with. (Of course, this does not include Mirai calling me in the middle of the night asking me to come to the work session. On that, I could only thank God for not having a hand phone. If I had a mobile phone, I will find myself doing Solar Car 24/7.) I do believe however the interest in Solar Car is making it difficult to me to run a student life. It seems that I am a real engineer instead of just a student.

Besides that, being in the Solar Car reaffirms my belief in green power. Knowing how a vehicle can run almost forever just with the power of the Sun is electrifying. Plus, without harmful emission.

Nevertheless, the thing that I appreciate most by being with the Team is the fact that I’m actually doing something for the Green movement instead of just talking.

Wait, the best thing is still the fact that I am going to Ohio for free.

Woohoo! I am going to Ohio this weekend. Go Solar Team!

p/s – By the way, the field hockey team is going to Michigan State in Lansing for a game against the Spartan. Boy, if only I had regularly attended the practice, I might had been included in the team. The last I played hockey with them was before the snow falls, some time in November. It was fun and trust me, although only the girls play this game, they are tough. I even had to struggle to keep possession of the ball when I played with them. To strengthen my point, there was even this Australian guy who had to sweat his heart out just to get pass through the girls.

Categories
Environment Politics & government Sports

[127] Of overrating, drilling and Alaska

Currently, two unexpected teams are running up high in Big Ten basketball Conference, attaining the first and the second rung at the Big Ten Conference respectively. Iowa and Michigan are proving that rating is nothing without performance. Currently, both are not rated. Even the highly rated Illinois is trying to find some firm ground to step on.

thought we suck but I guess the others suck more but frankly, I think Michigan is a pretender but we’ll see sooner or later whether I’m right or wrong. I don’t know about Iowa though but for Illinois, like what USC said to Notre Dame, ‘OVERRATED!’

Now, lets move on to a more serious matter.

The Republicans are trying to pursue permission from the Senate to drill Alaska all out.

Alaska is the last frontier state. Wilderness roams free here and there with minimum Human interference. The only city that I know exists in Alaska is Anchorage and the size is pathetically small relative to some other continental cities.

Being the last frontier means a backwater state without much development. Nevertheless, what makes Alaska in the spotlight is its oil and gas reserve. According to statistics, there is about 6 to 13 billion barrels worth of crude oil. Of course that figure looks big, especially for Bush. Unfortunately, comparatively, that figure is nothing and would only provide the US energy worth only for a very short term. For comparison, the UK has 15 billions barrel of crude oil. Imagine, 15 billion barrels for so small an area. Now, imagine, the possibility of 6 billion barrels worth of crude oil scattered all over Alaska – it’s simply defined-stupidity to dig up an area with the size of Alaska for such a small supply. Check this out if you don’t trust me on the figures.

For the Greens and to whole lots of other people minus Bush and his allies, it doesn’t make any sense to dig up the whole Alaskan soil just for an oil supply worth perhaps not even a decade. In addition, there are a lot more in Texas after years of digging. Why does Bush need to dig more?

One could that the world is currently facing oil supply shortage. The current situation in Venezuela and Iraq doesn’t help in engaging the problem. But again, the problems in Venezuela and Iraq are caused by the US itself.

In my opinion, just let the OPEC nations increase their production rate. There is no need to kill Alaska just for the sake of oil.

Bush, you suck, period.

p/s – below is one of the best posts I’ve ever read in a forum. It’s short but it makes sense. The post concerns the first Israeli in space.

Human idiots
by: claudiagiraffe (F/Orlando) 01/19/03 08:09 am
Msg: 2763 of 2776
7 recommendations

Why do these new astronauts insist on taking earthly problems into space? Space should be the new frontier, not just one more place to use for someone’s personal agenda.
That he’s an Israeli shouldn’t even be news. All that should matter is that he’s an astronaut.
At least he’s focused enough on his job that he forgot about his attention-getting little show for now. Too bad he didn’t get up there and realize what a fool he’s being and see that some things are bigger than what humans do on earth.

Categories
Environment Society

[117] Of anon unleashed

Something about the push for solar power:

Thoughts
by: annonymousposts (38/M/New Mexico) 01/03/03 11:34 pm
Msg: 360 of 362
1 recommendation

While everything has a cost, I think there are some overall misconceptions about the cost/benefit & risk/reward associated with the posts on this board.

To those who think this is nothing but a target for terrorists:
Get a life. For you, they’ve won. You’re scared and paranoid. A power tower in the middle of nowhere Australia is not a prime target, is it? I mean, where’s the collateral damage terrorists would want? The next targets are going to be smaller than WTC and will probably be aimed at large gathering/population centers. Don’t ya think? Seems obvious to me that a tower in Australia would be of little interest to a terrorist.

To those who keep repeating that nuclear and/or hydro power is the way to go:

Where can we store the spent fuel? Huh? We can’t even store the spent fuel we have, much less the millions of tons more that’d be generated by more nuclear plants. And hydro? C’mon. How many more rivers and their ecosystems have to be destroyed before we realize that doesn’t work either. What we need are systems that don’t leave behind any waste. While this system could (farfetched idea coming) cause thermal atmospheric changes if hundreds or thousands of these towers were built, it’s at least a step away from our current wasteful behaviors.

To those who are using this to spew forth a bunch of anti-Arab/Semite/Canadian rhetoric:

Jeez! Hate much?! It is specifically that sort of rhetoric that the hate-mongers want you to spout forth. You are, in fact, fueling their cause by provoking them and exhibiting behavior that allows them to believe Americans are evil. Not to sound to motherly, but for crying out loud, don’t operate any heavy machinery and please, don’t go into the water for thirty minutes, you may get a cramp or something.

To those who are trying to intelligently respond to the issues of renewable energy and its relationship to this proposed structure:
Thanks.

Oh, and please, either learn to spell or learn to type!

Categories
Environment

[102] Of letter from Dow Chemical on Bhopal

They do reply fast:

2030 Dow Center
April 30, 2002

Dear Concerned Citizen:

Thank you for sharing your concerns about the aftermath of the 1984 tragic gas release in Bhopal. We at Dow – along with all of our industry colleagues – were profoundly impacted by the tragedy. I for one can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news. Perhaps the only encouraging news to be gleaned from the tragedy is that it changed our industry forever, for the better.

I would like to share with you Dow’s perspective on Bhopal.

As you are aware, in February of 2001, Dow purchased the stock of Union Carbide.

Since that time, our subsidiary in India, Dow Chemical International, Pvt., Ltd. (DCIL) has been engaged in discussions with the leaders of the National Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (NCJB). The NCJB represents survivors of the 1984 tragedy. DCIL is seeking to better understand their concerns and, potentially, to define an appropriate way to direct a portion of our global philanthropic support towards providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Bhopal. Dow Chemical has also met with Greenpeace representatives regarding these matters. It is too early to know what the results of these discussions will be, but I want to assure you that we will continue to work with NCJB representatives and others interested in assisting the people of Bhopal. We are committed to doing so as a continuation of our long-standing practice of corporate giving and good corporate citizenship around the world, especially in the countries where we operate.

As you may know, immediately following the Bhopal tragedy, Union Carbide stepped forward to publicly accept moral responsibility for the gas release. In 1989, the Government of India and Union Carbide reached a $470 million settlement of all claims associated with the disaster – significantly more compensation than victims had been awarded in the past for this type of claim in Indian courts. The settlement was upheld by the Indian Supreme Court, which found this settlement to be “just, equitable and reasonable” and declared the matter closed. The plant site is owned today by the Indian government.

Assigning responsibility properly belongs to the courts, and as such, we believe Union Carbide has fulfilled its obligations in Bhopal. On a separate level, however, we are acutely aware of the needs of the people of Bhopal, and we remain hopeful we can play a part in meeting some of those needs through an appropriate philanthropic initiative.

All of us in industry, especially the chemical industry, appreciate the gravity and human cost of the Bhopal accident. It is a tragedy that should not have happened. Our obligation is to learn from it and to make every effort to see that such a tragedy never happens again. At Dow, we have redoubled our efforts to make protection of people and the environment a part of everything we do and every decision we make. We have taken, and continue to take, strong steps to realize our “vision of zero” – zero incidents, zero injuries, zero environmental harm. No lesser ideal is acceptable to us.

I hope it is evident that we are taking this issue very seriously and doing our best to take a thoughtful approach. Please continue to express your views and concerns on this and other issues in the future.

Sincerely,

Michael D. Parker
President and Chief Executive Officer

Categories
Environment Future Sci-fi

[88] Of I dream of an utopia II

Two third of Earth surface is covered by water. Two third is such a large portion to be left unused and it goes unmentioned that human will scour for land in any way that is possible. They “reclaim” land for the sea and build skyscrapers to provide more space for their business. Between these two, land reclamation is the most destructive method. Not only it destroys the natural habitat of underwater creatures, it also diverts the natural flow of the ocean and in the end, causing great catastrophe to ecosystems such as swamp and beach.

This is why in the future, in the middle of the ocean, there will be great cities comparable to today’s major cities. The cities will stand under the sea level as well as floating in the middle of nowhere.

The underwater cities will be protected against the powerful water pressure by multiple great dome made out from some high pressure tolerance material. The cities might be built in ocean trenches or simply on shallow sea floor. Some of the cities, if it is huge enough and if the depth of the city is not so great, will reach the water surface and have the pleasure of sunlight to some extend. It will not be surprising to see the city of Singapore or Hong Kong to be both ground-based cities and underwater cities. The land problem there is so critical, in times to come, we might see of these cities’ structures to be built underwater, near its coast instead of seeing major land reclamation projects.

Between the underwater cities, transportation tubes will be constructed much as the same fashion as its ground counterpart plus a few technical details that enable it to survive the intense water pressure. Although there will be tubes, the main type of underwater vehicle will depend on rotor much as what is being use nowadays. These vehicles, submarine if you may, will be amphibious, allowing it to be operated on land (or in the tubes) and underwater.

Being under the water, the water pressure could be another method of producing clean energy and thus helping solving the problem of transporting the much needed electricity to the underwater world.

There will also be cities floating on the wave. It may well be exaggeration to call these Human’s habitat as city as the floating structure is just a large ship that are sailing all around the world. Like on land, almost everything is available for its residents. These ships will only come to shore to restock its supplies. This idea is not far fetch as even right now, the project of such magnitude is underway. Read all about it at www.freedomship.com. Perhaps, the only time when these ships need not to call a port is when they are out of fresh fish supply.

To be continued…