Saturday, 28 December 2013

Former BP geologist: peak oil is here & it will "break economies"


Credit: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images/The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2013/dec/23/british-petroleum-geologist-peak-oil-break-economy-recession / former British Petroleum BP geologist geology warn warning warned age of cheap oil long gone danger of continuous recession increased risk conflict hunger lecture Geohazards postgraduate Natural Hazards Insurers course University College London UCL Dr. Richard G. Miller worked for BP 1985 retire retired retiring 2008 fficial data from International Energy Agency IEA US Energy Information Administration EIA International Monetary Fund IMF conventional oil peaked around 2008 Dr. Miller critiqued critique official industry line global reserves current rates consumption pointing out that peaking result declining production rates declining reserves new discoveries increasing reliance unconventional oil gas 37 countries already post-peak post peak peaked global oil production declining about 4.1% per year 3.5 million barrels a day b/d per year new production equal new Saudi Arabia every 3 to 4 years maintain grow supply new discoveries not matched consumption since 1986 drawing down our reserves reserves are apparently climbing every year growing due better technology old fields raising amount can recover production still falling 4.1% p.a. per annum Dr. Miller who prepared annual in house in-house projections future oil supply BP 2000 to 2007 ATM problem more money limited daily withdrawals production conventional liquid oil flat since 2008 growth liquid supply since then has been largely of natural gas liquids NGL ethane propane butane pentane oil sand oil-sand bitumen prestigious journal Philosophical Transactions Royal Society future oil supply introductory paper co-authored Dr. Steve R. Sorrel co-director Sussex Energy Group University of Sussex Brighton oil industry experts growing consensus era of cheap oil has passed new very different phase endorse conservative conclusions extensive earlier study government funded government-funded UK Energy Research Centre UKERC sustained decline global conventional production appears probable before 2030 significant risk beginning before 2020 current evidence tight oil shale oil resource resources resource base appears relatively modest increasing dependence worse worsen decline rates in the long run reliance tight oil resources hydraulic fracturing exacerbate rising trend in global average decline rates well wells no plateau decline extremely fast tar sands sand Canadian oil sands deliver only 5 mb per day by 2030 IEA projection project all liquids liquid all-liquids production cude oil production grew NGL petroleum crude oil energy return on investment EROI barrel consumption consume global warming climate change green house greenhouse gas Richard Miller large scale large-scale wind farm projects reduction deed in tariff feed-in tariffs renewable energy Dr Nafeez Ahmed is executive director Institute for Policy Research & Development environment guides /

Friday, 27 December 2013

Electric cars are so disruptive, internal combustion engine cars will be obsolete in 2016, says futurist • UPDATED 28 December 2013

2016 — sound a little too soon? Both General Motors & Tesla are working on mass market electric vehicles with a range of 200 miles (320 km). Elon Musk has promised the Tesla for, "Hopefully 2016, but I would say no later than 2017."

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1089325_electric-cars-so-disruptive-gas-cars-will-be-obsolete-in-2016-says-futurist

Update: More about the Tesla mass market EV:


Credit: Tesla Motors/Green Car Reports

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1084595_teslas-next-electric-car-line-roundup-of-what-we-know-now / Tesla Model S plug in plug-in electric cars 200 miles more electric range Tesla Motors prepares roll out more affordable Model E late 2016 face serious competition General Motors GM EV electric vehicle LiIon lithium ion battery cell BEV develop development developing Tesla-rivaling rival Tesla rivaling car 200 miles 321 kilometres km charge cost $30,000 The Wall Street Journal reports technology build go on sale particularly soon high battery costs Douglas Parks GM's Vice President global product programs opening expansion battery test lab at the company's Technical Center in Warren Michigan lowest battery cost per kilowatt-hour thousands of Panasonic commodity cells specially designed design less expensive laptop many patents unique approach automaker 200 mile 200-mile range sell price GM CEO Dan Akerson breakthrough breakthroughs battery technology Envia Systems Newark California-based California based company GM invested $17 million 2011 Envia specializes specialize specialise lithium-ion cathode technology create batteries greater energy density 400 watt-hours per kilogram much higher 140 Watt-hours per kilogram Nissan Leaf's battery pack Watt hours wait waiting battery technology LG Chem cells Chevrolet Volt Cadillac ELR battery electric battery-electric car Chevrolet Spark EV maximum range of 82 miles EV electric vehicle LiIon lithium ion battery cell charge recharge performance acceleration Roadster Model S X economy halve half 50% reduce reduced price /

Thursday, 26 December 2013

Dynamo: magician impossible


Credit: PA/The Daily Mail

After watching these videos, I'm not ashamed to say I have no idea how any of this is possible. Definitely worth a look.

Man cut in half?

http://youtu.be/72zt6xrwNME

Bus levitation:

http://youtu.be/H7z7LyBrVhE

Longer videos:

14 minutes
http://youtu.be/xexL6EV9whI

46 minutes:
http://youtu.be/3KBbV32i8fs / rope loop wrap pull London bus levitate conjure conjurer magic illusion amazing trick playing card ring coin sweet lolly candy machine street football foot ball soccer /

Wednesday, 25 December 2013

Best wishes ★'°・:*:・。


Credit: Wallpaper Arena www.hdwallpapersinn.com

Whatever your beliefs, all the very best from Hitchhiker's Guide 2 Tech! 。・:* :・°'☆

Tuesday, 24 December 2013

Six reasons your next phone won’t have to run software from Apple or Google


Oppo N1 CyanogenMod Version
Credit: Oppo/CyanogenMod/DroidLife

We lost Palm some time ago & Nokia has killed off Symbian. BlackBerry appears to be circling the drain.

Still, the good folks at Quartz think we have reasons to expect some diversity in the phone market:

http://qz.com/161020/six-reasons-your-next-phone-wont-have-to-run-software-from-apple-or-google/ / two mobile operating systems Apple Apple’s iOS Google Google’s Android control 94% market competitors BlackBerry crowdfund Ubuntu Edge smart phone smartphone mobile cell phone operating system Linux target amount Nokia CEO Stephen Elop death certificate for Symbian company’s OS 2014 challengers CyanogenMod Cyanogen root flash ROM Android operating system control device devices and doesn’t contain the junk that phone-manufacturers 10 million downloads remove removed app playstore Play store download CyanogenMod Silicon Valley’s Valley venture capital firm faith, Andreesen Horowitz $23 million round of funding MeeGo Microsoft engineers SailFish avatar Jolla hybrid Sailfish OS run Android apps app store Russian web giant Yandex Windows Phone cell mobile hardware maker Nokia Ubuntu open source open-source, Linux-based based operating system mobile phones tablets desktop computers desktop Linux users, preview versions polished unified release OS all devices PC PCs ship Ubuntu phones and tablets Tizen backed phone makers biggest phone-makers LG Huawei Samsung Mobile World Congress Firefox OS adaptive app search circular icons Mozilla browser operating system web apps websites run like apps native apps written specially rewritten platform /

Monday, 23 December 2013

Settled: electric vehicles are cleaner than their fossil-fuel-burning cousins – update


Credit: SingularityHUB

It's over two years since the issues to be considered in answering this question were first discussed in these pages. Now the Union of Concerned Scientists has agreed that the question is settled.

http://singularityhub.com/2013/12/22/its-settled-electric-cars-are-cleaner-than-their-gas-powered-cousins/

Of course, the carbon footprint of an electric vehicle in your area depends on the power generation mix used there. Washington state in USA & Tasmania in Australia with largely hydro grids are obviously better than Victoria in Australia with lots of brown coal.

My solution: rooftop PV generates most of the electricity used by my EV, plus, I pay for "green energy". I.e., for a fee, my electricity provider undertakes to generate power from renewable sources &/or provide offsets for all of my power consumption, including my EV. All of the people I know who own EVs are doing at least one of these. / technological advance government consumer groups company companies sell innovative products electric vehicle Nissan Ford Chevrolet Honda Toyota Audi BMW Tesla EVs tiny fraction car cars road United States of America General Motors GM infamous electric cars car EV1 California in 1996 major issue electric vehicle complex complexity answer simple question better environment gasoline-powered cars gasoline powered petrol petroleum instinctively believe electric electricity electrical grid coal natural gas American utilities coal natural gas renewable energy sources Union of Concerned Scientists nonprofit supports scientifically sound cleaner energy policies question around emissions generated charge electric vehicles versus emissions petrol petroleum gas vehicles EV produces less greenhouse gas emissions average compact gasoline car Don Anair research deputy director UCS’s USC clean vehicles program Singularity Hub issue particulate pollution complicated overall EV electric vehicles clean cleaner track record reduce U.S. global warming pollution by four-fifths 2050 solar wind power continue become cheaper better represented electrical supply chain EVs advantage expert experts cost competitiveness solar wind geothermal biomass mix of sources Todd Foley senior vice president policy government relations American Council on Renewable Energy ACORE mix of energy sources charging your car fuel mix portfolio approach lower fueling prices better lifetime cost comparison equivalent of $1 per gallon of gasolene gasoline petrol saving fuel costs sticker price distance range charge recharge Mike Brace technical editor EVWorld niche market second household vehicle commuting workhorse Tesla charging stations inductive charging /

Sunday, 22 December 2013

Levitron levitating table lamp


Credit: GeekAlerts/ThinkGeek

http://www.geekalerts.com/levitron-levitating-table-lamp// magic science Levitron Levitating Table Lamp amazing behold chrome table lamp floating lampshade light provided soft focus soft-focus LED lights light emitting diode lampshade hovers hover 3 inches above the base looking futuristic wonderful future home homes LED table lamp shade levitates 3 inches above light source fans science magic materials brushed chrome stand 6 high intensity high-intensity LED lights powered through low voltage adapter input 110v/220v output 15 VDC dimensions 16 1/2″ height max diameter 7 1/2″
Levitron Levitating Table Lamp $149.99 ThinkGeek.com coolest piece of decor cool /