Month: April 2012

The cost of oil, part 2

As a follow up to my earlier post about the Cost of Oil, comes this article from the Huffington Post.  More facts, more examples, more of the same to many of you, but for those of you who aren’t quite convinced, check it out for yourself and see if it makes sense to you.  There’s a lot of talk in the media about the cost of oil, and discussions about different options for getting more of it (Keystone XL pipeline, drilling in the gulf, etc).  It’s worth realizing that these solutions will provide oil, but not CHEAP oil.  Or as the article above so nicely put it,

The simple truth of the matter is this: most of the world’s easy reserves have already been depleted — except for those in war-torn countries like Iraq.  Virtually all of the oil that’s left is contained in harder-to-reach, tougher reserves. These include deep-offshore oil, Arctic oil, and shale oil, along with Canadian “oil sands” — which are not composed of oil at all, but of mud, sand, and tar-like bitumen. So-called unconventional reserves of these types can be exploited, but often at a staggering price, not just in dollars but also in damage to the environment.

So what’s the answer?  Adapt.  Oil will continue to get more expensive and more rare.  We need to work hard to wean ourselves off of that addiction, for the longer we wait, the more difficult that transition will be.

Blue strawberry?

Wow, talk about genetically modified food.  A BLUE strawberry?  Crazy stuff.  It seems the goal wasn’t to create a blue strawberry, but rather, one that would be resistant to freezing – which this one is – and the color was just a side effect.  Scientists took the gene that makes a type of antifreeze in flounder fish, and added it to an otherwise normal strawberry planet.  This abomination is the result.  This GMO field is one that really scares me…I recognize we may require widespread adoption of GMO in order to feed growing populations, but I’m concerned about the unknown side effects of creating living organisms like these.

Read more over at Care2.

The Earth is full – CNN.com

How many people can this planet support?  According to Paul Gliding, The Earth is full.  Or rather, it’s not the number of people that’s the problem, but the amount of resources we require from this plane to sustain our economies.  It’s possible to transform our economies to live in balance with this planet, but let’s face it, that’s not going to happen until we reach the breaking point first, and that’ll probably be within our lifetimes.  I’d like to believe that my blog will help influence enough people to achieve change here…but I admit I’m pessimistic, due to the global cooperation required.

Here’s his TED talk:

Real-time audio translation

This is pretty cool…AT&T is close to having a real-time audio translation service, shown here working on iPads which means it could run on about any computer hardware (or even in the background over your cell provider’s network, potentially).  The video below shows a brief demo, though it’s about the worst possible environment for a demo like this…noisy room full of other chatter.  But, it shows the technology in brief at least.  In a two-way audio communication (ie, phone call), it translates the audio into the language the party on the other end can comprehend.

via Engadget

The cost of oil

With the political season in full swing and our annual uptick in gas prices, there’s a lot of talk about how to lower the price of gas and oil.  The reality is really nicely summed up in this article at smartplanet.  The fact is, we’ve already tapped all the ‘cheap’, easily accessible oil.  While there are vast quantities of hydrocarbons still available to be extracted, the cost of doing so is quite high, and as a result, we’ll never have ‘cheap’ oil ever again.  Those new sources are also more difficult to get to (meaning more expensive).  This means that around 2014-2015, we’re expected to hit a point where global oil supply (production) decreases on a year to year basis.  Naturally, this is not going to be fun for those driving inefficient cars.  If you’re shopping for a new car, you’d be wise to consider the most fuel efficient model that you can for whatever type of vehicle you need!

It’s a really good article and worth the read, check it out here.

Time lapse video of Earth, seen from space

This is hardly new, but it’s worth sharing time and time again.  It’s a time lapse video taken of the most amazing planet our species has ever laid eyes upon, as seen from the International Space Station.  Nice to watch time and time again as a reminder of how awesome this planet is.

 

Oakley smart glasses

It’s pretty much a given that the first wave of augmented reality applications will not be through smartphones’ interfaces, but through glasses that have information overlaid on the display (such as the Google Glasses rumored for release later in 2012).  So, it should come as no surprise that Oakley has been working on this since the late 90s, according to their CEO.  It just goes to show that this really is cutting edge technology…it’s no small feat, though Oakley has made incremental steps in this direction first with their ‘Thump’ glasses that also had an MP3 music player, and also with bluetooth-capable glasses that would stream music from your iPod.  It’s similar to the Apple product design philosophy of slowing incorporating features into your products to learn from that, eventually merging into one awesome product that’s light years ahead of the competition.  A newly awarded patent shows that Oakley is indeed working on adding video capability to their glasses.  They’ve got the bluetooth link worked out.  Battery technology has been a continual learning area for them.  I’d say they’re poised to be a leader in AR glasses soon, though ultimately the hardware will not be what makes or breaks a company…it’s all about the software when it comes to AR.  If they release an API that provides for an easy link between the glasses and smartphones (since they’re the most ubiquitous portable computers), they could have a hit here.

There’s a bit more on this over at Techcrunch , also at Bloomberg, if you’re interested.

Electric vehicles, and global warming

Sure, electric cars don’t burn gas, but their electricity has to come from somewhere and in many parts of the country, that means coal.  Surprisingly though, even accounting for that, an electric car still produces less global warming emissions than a gasoline powered car getting 27mpg, according to a new study.  Of course, 100% coal-sourced electricity is a truly worst case scenario, as natural gas, nuclear, and renewable sources also come into play.  Taking that into account, it turns out that about 45% of Americans live in places where the electric car emissions are equivalent to a 50mpg automobile!  37% have the equivalent of a 41-50mpg car, and 18% have a 31-40mpg equivalent.

The bottom line is, yes, electric cars still result in air pollution and global warming gas emissions, but they’re still far better than almost any car on the road today (the one exception I can think of being VW’s fantastic TDI diesel engine).  More importantly, as more renewable energy is plugged in to the grid, electric cars will continue to improve, and quickly outpace even VW’s best diesel efforts.

Read more at SmartPlanet or the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Advances in Solar Panel Technology

Solar energy technology is advancing fast enough that I’ve decide to lump together several updates into single posts now and then.

To start with, the Frauenhofer Institute has showed off some highly flexible solar panels, placing them on a ski helmet.  This may not sound like a big deal, flexible panels have been around for a while, right? Well, not really.  Typically, when you see a flexible panel, it can only bend in one direction – around a cylinder, for example.  This new technology allows the panel to conform to compound surfaces, like a sphere or, in this case, a ski helmet.  For now, testing this on ski helmets is a good, extreme use environment (the solar cells become more efficient with cold, but batteries become less efficient).  Just about ever helmet design could benefit the user with this – motorcyclists, construction workers, bicyclists, you name it.  The first product, a ski helmet, is targeted for sale at the end of 2012.

Solar cell comparisons invariably come down to one key metric, the efficiency.  Going along with this is measuring reflectance, or how much solar energy is reflected and thus unable to be converted into electric energy.  Scientists at Natcore Technology have set a new record for this, producing wafers that absorb an incredible 99.7%!  This promises to increase solar panel efficiency, which in turn will lower cost and increase adoption of solar energy worldwide.

There are two main types of solar energy devices on the market today – photovoltaic panels that covert visible wavelengths into electric power, and solar thermal that takes the abundant infrared radiation emitted by the sun and uses that heat energy to do the same (via turbines or other methods, or just using the heat directly to heat a house or water heater).  Now, Naked Energy has designed a hybrid solar energy system which has solar panels to make electricity, but also pumps water through the tubes to make that heat available for other energy uses (heating a house being the most feasible).  It’s not a utility-scale sort of system, but great for home or business users.

Volpe – miniature ‘car’

I use the word ‘car’ loosely here.  This four wheeled contraption, the Volpe, is like no other car you’ve seen (well, apart from the Peel P50 with which is shares more than a passing resemblance!).  It’s a two seat four wheeled car, powered by an electric motor with a natural gas or gasoline generator providing extended range capability.

The seating is tandem style, and if you look at the image you can see how this would be a great setup for a rear passenger that has no legs.  So, let’s be realistic here and call it a single seat car.

Why would you want one?  Well, efficiency for starters…being so small, electricity usage is small as well.  Parking is a cinch.  It’s even small enough to find some creative parking places, like inside (it’ll fit inside an elevator).  It could actually make for a decent commute vehicle in large cities, as long as you can avoid freeways and other faster roads.

As mentioned previously, the Peel P50 was actually first with this ‘mini car’ idea, and my favorite TV show, Top Gear, had a great review that shows this car in real life, check it out below.  I expect driving a Volpe around town would have similar advantages…and drawbacks (the Peel P50 is smaller, though).

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren.

Up ↑