Australia’s biggest solar plant starts generating to the grid

Credit: AGL Energy/Renew Economy

Still a work in progress, the solar power plant at Nyngan in central western New South Wales, has a capacity of 25MW. When completed, capacity will be 102MW.

Which points up another advantage of a photovoltaic power plant: it can start generating power while incomplete.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/australias-biggest-solar-plant-starts-generating-to-the-grid-53079

http://www.wattclarity.com.au/2015/03/first-production-from-nyngan-solar-farm-seen-over-the-weekend/ / PV photovoltaic Nyngan solar power plant western New South Wales began generating power into the National Electricity Market 25MW completed date feeding into Australia’s main grid Australian 350,000 solar PV panels installed First Solar nominated capacity to 102MW first of two plants being built by AGL Energy 53MW Broken Hill plant under construction Nyngan visible Australian Energy Market Operator’s market NEM Watch several dozen large scale solar projects in planning mode several MWs mega projects 2GW plan western Queensland renewable energy target RET Nyngan Broken Hill projects defunct solar flagships program funds now managed Australian Renewable Energy Agency other large solar plants being constructed ACT solar auction process AGL’s head of merchant energy Anthony Fowler significant milestone Australia’s largest utility-scale solar PV plant project stakeholders local electricity distributor Essential Energy Australian Energy Market OperatorAEMO First Solar AGL to NSW Government transition to renewable energy NSW Environment minister Rob Stokes estimated 13,000 jobs supported by renewable energy in NSW mostly in regional areas development of projects in regional NSW provide traditional farming communities with alternative income streams that are not rainfall dependent Jack Curtis First Solar Asia-Pacific regional manager utility-scale solar Australia’s generation mix ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht large-scale solar plants more competitive creating jobs boosting skills contributing to local communities development of utility-scale solar diverse energy future Paul McArdle NEM-Watch /

Finally — good news on climate change

News on the climate change front has been uniformly bad, but finally a bit of good news: there is reason to think that in 2014, CO2 emissions were the same as in 2013, while the world economy grew by 3.3%.

http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21646716-ray-hope-debate-about-climate-change-flatlining / carbon dioxide emissions rose world level of economic activity low-carbon energy International Energy Agency IEA energy consumption consuming rich countries worldwide emissions carbon dioxide 2014 2013 CO2 emissions falling fallen economic contraction world economy growth grown International Monetary Fund IMF emissions risen European Union GDP CO2 emissions energy use GDP rich countries energy developed developing countries IEA’s regulations pollution European Union EU household appliances household electricity use flat efficiency standards requirements European law IEA vehicle emission efficiency standard fuel-efficiency global improvement USA America vehicle emission standards coal-fired gas-fired power stations economic activity China world’s largest polluter manufacturing heavy industry decline share of GDP services increase demand for coal is dwindling China’s national bureau of statistics coal consumption fell by pushing CO2 emissions down flattening of global emissions carbon dioxide atmosphere standard measurement atmospheric CO2 concentration Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii growth dormancy great forests northern hemisphere 400 parts per million emissions stay flat temperature rise 3°C by 2100 pre-industrial levels 2°C emissions fall climate-change treaty global carbon price negotiation new climate treaty Fatih Birol IEA’s chief economist /

Google’s 2015 Pixel — best Chromebook to date

Credit: Engadget

Many people’s requirement of a computer are modest:
● email
● web surfing
● social media

This seems to be the target market for Chromebooks. Modest price matches the modest capabilities.

Then came the Google Pixel. Far from modest hardware & price, with ordinary battery life.

In its second incarnation, somewhat better price ($US999 & $US1,299), premium hardware, & battery life right up there with the best.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/the-best-chromebook-ever-the-chromebook-pixel-2015/

http://betanews.com/2015/03/14/13-things-you-should-know-about-chromebook-pixel-2015/

http://www.zdnet.com/pictures/new-chromebook-pixel-first-impressions-exceptional-hardware-upstages-chrome-os/

If a Chromebook suits most of your needs, but there are one or two applications which aren’t available on Chrome OS, the Pixel has enough processing power to run Linux & Chrome OS side-by-side:
http://www.itworld.com/article/2891142/how-to-run-linux-and-chrome-os-on-your-chromebook.html

Chromebooks in general have less storage than other laptops. At 32 or 64GB, the Pixel has more than most, but if your feel the need for more, have a look at:
http://hhg2tech.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/expand-your-laptop-storage.html / Google's new Chromebook Pixel high-end model 5th-generation, 2.4GHz Intel Core i7-5500U processor 16GBs memory 64GB Solid State DriveSSD for $1,299 top-of-the-line Chromebook Pixel sold out worth it Google's Chromebook Pixel 2015 best Chromebook ever price-tag to match Chromebook Chrome Web browser laptop 2015 Chromebook Pixel's 2.4GHz Intel Core i7 fast processor laptop laptops Intel Core i7-5500U processor high-end systems price-tags new Pixel USB-C port power peripherals new Pixel USB-C USB 3.0 ports USB-C port DisplayPort video HDMI displays USB-C adapter USB-C adapters MacBook larger SDD 256GB SSD upgrade 512GB SSD 64GB SSD SD card slot storage 1 TeraByte of Google Drive service for three years how fast high-powered Pixel Principled Technologies' CrXPRT 2015 benchmark evaluates Chromebooks performance battery life playing video games watching movies editing pictures office work fastest of all Chromebooks battery life of 11.58 hours better battery life benchmarked Chromebook laptop 12.85 innch 2560 x 1700 IPS display 239-pixel-per-inch density retina display 3:2 aspect ratio display web pages Intel HD Graphics 5500 display sharper and faster 4K video output DisplayPort HDMI networking new Pixel Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 802.11ac Wi-Fi 2x2 spatial streams WiFi dual antennas no 4G option tethering Wi-Fi connections from their smartphones built-in 4G keyboard touchpad good keyboard best laptop keyboard glass touchpad ThinkPad's pointing stick touchpad Pixel's touchpad exceptional weight weighs 3.3 lbs lighter computers laptops desktop operating system cloud services content mobile-centric game changer cloud-based services thin fat clients OS operating systems cloud-based office software Google Docs QuickBooks Online SugarCRM Microsoft Office QuickBooks Microsoft Dynamics CRM Google Microsoft software-as-a-service SaaS Office 365 stand-alone desktop laptop Chromebook is already replacing it for many users photo-editing programs GIMP Photoshop desktop operating system OS Crouton desktop Linux Linux-based Chrome OS GIMP edit images Ubuntu 14.04 window applications apps work habits work on the Web Mac OS X Windows full Linux desktop Chromebook is all you need Pixel work on the cloud i5 better battery life laptop /

VW investigating 700 km electric vehicle battery

Actually, a bit more than investigate — they’ve bought a 5 percent holding in QuantumScape, the company developing the battery, with an option to buy a bigger share, after it makes a decision on the battery — “by July”.

And the battery? Its solid state, & in addition to higher capacity than other EV batteries, it’s variously described as, "fire proof", or, "fire resistant".

http://www.electric-vehiclenews.com/2015/03/vw-to-decide-on-new-battery-technology.html

http://cleantechnica.com/2015/01/01/vw-challenges-tesla-with-disruptive-new-ev-battery/ / Volkswagen new battery technology under development develop U.S. startup QuantumScape Corp electric cars technology’s boost the range battery powered vehicles tests are progressing VW Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn press conference Stuttgart Germany progress has been made VW acquired 5 percent holding QuantumScape German carmaker energy-storage technology fireproof vehicles luxury Porsche Audi divisions 700 km range
new power storage technology electric vehicle driving distance charge recharge recharges 700 kilometers 430 miles battery-powered version VW Golf closely held QuantumScape founded 2010 former Stanford University researchers solid-state batteries liquid electrolytes lithium-ion technology solid electrolytes burn resistant store more energy more power extend the range of electric vehicles Perovskite disruptive technology lithium ion LiIon research Stanford Friedrich Prinz CEO is Jagdeep Singh solid track record cutting edge tech graphene naturally occurring mineral all-electron battery AEB effect inclusions embedded dielectric two electrodes capacitor electrons tunnel through dielectric electrodes inclusions increasing the charge storage density conventional capacitor all electron battery TheEEStory QuantumScape patents forming processing antiperovskite doped aluminium crystal structure similar naturally occurring perovskite synthetic antiperovskites thin film antiperovskite deposited substrate electrode lithium-based electrochemical storage device thin film solid state electrolytes lithium ion batteries metallic lithium anode increases capacity energy density lithium-based electrochemical storage device Li3OBr Li3OCl demonstrated superionic conductivity LiRAPs investigated use solid state batteries cell cells /

Mobile document scanning apps

Credit: LifeHacker

Want to reduce the amount of paper in your life? Your smartphone camera, with suitable software, can not only scan, but correct, enhance, & store locally, or in the cloud. And you may already have the software: as you can see from the image above, Google Drive provides a scanning function in Android. Evernote does something similar in iOS.

http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2015/03/five-best-mobile-document-scanning-apps/?utm_source=Lifehacker+Australia&utm_campaign=cf24e551e1-lifehacker_2015_03_19&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9fc709844c-cf24e551e1-278953185 / scanning receipts travel notes on a whiteboard sketches envelope easy right tools best apps take a snapshot text recognition save scan cloud future reference other devices best smartphone apps image Evernote Google Drive Android iOS best tool scan keep track of receipts notes napkins sketches whiteboards productivity Google’s Drive apps Android scan documents OCR optical character recognition text documents scanning open Drive tap Add New select Scan photographs photos documents convert PDF Google Drive platforms scans saved on your device in your Google Drive account safe keeping retrieval later CamScanner Android iOS Windows Phone CamScanner freemium product easy to use scans document PDF directly performs OCR scanned documents important details prices dates titles multi-page batch scanning colour greyscale grayscale black-and-white scans files organised later retrieval auto-crop enhance scanned images sketches drawings annotate notes highlighting save your documents cloud access on other devices premium account additional features more cloud storage space editable OCR auto syncing other cloud services Box Dropbox Google Drive password protection shared PDF documents watermark your documents Mobile Document Scanning Apps titles multi-page batch scanning Genius Scan Grizzly Labs cross-platform document scanner automatically lines up isolates enhances final scan final image converting document PDF library email share basic editing tools auto cropping archiving fixes image perspective PDF generated upgrade premium version in-app purchase strips out the ads unlocks import PDFs automatic upload scan save to cloud storage services Dropbox Evernote Google Drive Scannable by Evernote user file organise account cropped remove backgrounds enhanced text readable business card contact contact card share other apps upload email camera roll unlocks premium version FineScanner document scanning tool languages translate export file image document types Office documents PDFs text image quality /

Solar Impulse approaching Varanasi, India

Support crew for the solar-powered round-the-world plane, Solar Impulse 2, is awaiting its arrival in Varanasi, India.

The sun is going down on #Varanasi as the #solarTEAM finally arrives to welcome @andreborschberg after #RTW #Flight3! pic.twitter.com/9Ra9p1ESSe

— SOLAR IMPULSE (@solarimpulse) March 18, 2015

/ Swiss pilot pilots first ever attempt fly around the world propelled the Sun André Borschberg compatriot Bertrand Piccard take turns piloting single seater seat Solar Impulse 2 21,747 miles 35,000 km kilometre 12 legs including gruelling five- to six-day stints across the Atlantic Pacific oceans entire journey will take five months Borschberg took the controls takeoff take off take-off Al-Bateen executive airport Abu Dhabi early on Monday first destination Muscat in Oman pilots roughly 250 hours each inside narrow cockpit no oxygen temperature control temperatures outside range between -40 degrees C to 40°C falling asleep flight need constant attention Piccard Borschberg survive 20-minute naps every two to four hours pilots will practise yoga stave off the physical discomfort remaining confined seat for days at a time Borschberg biggest challenge maintaining concentration Piccard psychiatrist team 1999 first circumnavigated globe non-stop balloon taught techniques of self-hypnosis meditation maintain concentration time duration in the present moment the only way is to be present almost a spiritual experience entire journey circumnavigating Earth in a family car aircraft weighs the same as a Volvo sedan comparable speeds SI2 top speed 87m/h 140km/h pilots conserve battery power limiting plane half cockpit only slightly larger average car contain life support systems food oxygen supplies reclining pilot’s seat triples bed chair toilet fly both day and night no fuel powered by 17,000 solar panels set on its wings wider Boeing 747’s fuselage 633kg bank of lithium batteries quarter weight store energy run motors overnight journey early days intercontinental flight enormous speed range jet engines Qantas fly Kangaroo Route Sydney to London hopping Darwin Singapore Kolkata Karachi Cairo Tripoli en route Borschberg success Solar Impulse project first solar-powered plane fly through the night first to fly between two continents primitive step toward zero-carbon jumbo combustion fossil fuels dominated powered flight 19th century dirigible aviation burns the most carbon per passenger per kilometre of any mode of mass-transport and, despite efforts to limit emissions, remains the fastest growing anthropogenic source of greenhouse gases sector climate change toughest major emissions source to decarbonise solar flight seeks remains decades away Wright Brothers Charles Lindbergh deputy editor Aerospace magazine Bill Read solar flight commercial flights solar cells generate power fly Solar Impulse fly using solar power constructed very light weight light-weight lightweight huge wingspan solar cell technology power source aircraft advances project real-world uses today fly Sun day and night build an aircraft extremely energy efficient technologies energy efficiency used in your home your car appliances four motors power aircraft generate heat energy efficiency single cheapest way reduce carbon emissions across the world technologies challenge energy environment pollution natural resources /

Liquid cooling for phone CPUs

Credit: Fujitsu/Android Police

Phone running too hot? Fujitsu may have a solution. A prototype liquid cooling system only 1 mm thick has been demonstrated.

No pump in the Fujitsu design, so no impact on battery life.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/03/16/fujitsu-shows-off-a-liquid-cooling-device-for-mobile-electronics-thats-just-1mm-thin/

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2015/03/fujitsu-unveils-liquid-cooling-tech-for-smartphones/

http://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/2015/0312-01.html / phone feel hot really hot mobile processor tech Fujitsu manufacturer OEM supplier thin cooling device for compact electronics liquid cooling solution designed high performance mobile chipset only one millimeter thin liquid cooling for electronics end gaming workstation PCs custom liquid cooling setups machines size power requirements Fujitsu's solution combination heatsink heat sink radiator moves evaporated coolant liquid heat generating component mobile CPU cooler area vapor condenses liquid hotter area again without additional electrical power pump passive liquid cooled system shed excess heat without extra battery drain Fujitsu move five times as much heat away from thermal hot spots previous passive solutions apparatus ranges 0.6mm thin evaporator 1mm thin condenser footprint spatial requirements high end tablets big smartphones device ready practical implementation 2017 year demonstrating Semiconductor Thermal Measurement Modeling Management Symposium San Jose evaporator vapor vapour line liquid condensor thermal diffusion plate temperature control diffuse disperse evaporate latent heat vaporisation condensation /