Sustainable electricity making progress around the world

Burlington, Vermont now runs on 100% renewable electricity & has done it without raising rates since 2009
http://www.triplepundit.com/2015/02/burlington-vermont-runs-100-renewable-energy/

Orkney Island, (16 kilometres (10 miles) north of Scotland) is now running on 100% renewable electricity — largely wind


South Australia 30% + renewable
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_South_Australia

Tuesday 30 September 2014: a combination of wind energy & solar provided more than 100% of the South Australia’s electricity needs, for a whole working day between 9.30am & 6pm
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/south-australia-hits-100-renewables-for-a-whole-working-day-86069 / renewable sustainable green electricity power solar wind turbine windmill generator storage hydro hydro-electric hydroelectric hydro electric Burlington Electric Vermont powered 100 percent by renewables Greenburg Kansas town coal fossil fuel Vermont’s largest city energy portfolio hydropower plant Vermont’s progressive politics residents local utility Burlington Electric without raising rates since 2009 case study communities investing renewables Vermont’s local topography biomass power station fueled mostly by wood chips woodchips McNeil Generating Station biofuels logging residue culled tree material scrap yard waste wood power station generate megawatts MW electricity city’s power needs electricity electric power energy wind power 40 MW project solar energy solar array hydro electricity hydropower Maine plant Winooski River smart grid project energy more efficiently efficiency photovoltaic PV Sandra Levine environmental attorney old Maine hydropower plant energy portfolio keeping electricity cost-competitive /

Uber is working on an autonomous car too

Credit: Ethan Lott/Pittsburgh Business Times

Google, Tesla, Mercedes, Audi & Delphi are working on autonomous cars. Now Uber has joined in.

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/blog/techflash/2015/05/exclusive-heres-your-first-look-at-ubers-self.html

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/22/8643047/uber-self-driving-car-first-pictures

Delphi autonomous car has driven from San Francisco to New York City
http://www.wired.com/2015/04/delphi-autonomous-car-cross-country/

Maybe Apple
http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/4/7976101/apple-cars-roof-mounted-cameras

Some of the advantages of autonomous vehicles are obvious. A little less obvious is more productive investment. / wear and tear motor electric vehicle EV energy fuel resources invest investment park road petrol gas diesel Google search engine battery LiIon lithium ion battery charge recharge autonomous car vehicle Uber developing self-driving self driving cars plans create autonomous vehicles research cars vehicle cruising the streets of Pittsburgh Uber Advanced Technologies Center box of electronic components on the roof device rotating LIDAR sensor map the immediate surroundings device identical profile to LIDAR components Google's self-driving vehicles the so-called Apple car Uber vehicle autonomous not a self-driving test car early research mapping safety autonomy systems research autonomy systems vehicle falling asleep at the wheel Uber's plans build a self-driving car borrowing engineering talent Carnegie Mellon University's robotics center research center centre CMU Uber's research employing drivers eliminate expense /

Saudi Oil Minister: “... eventually, one of these days, we are not going to need fossil fuels”

And the rest of the quote, from Saudi Arabia's oil minister, Ali Al-Naimi at a business & climate conference in Paris:

"In Saudi Arabia, we recognise that eventually, one of these days, we are not going to need fossil fuels, I don't know when, in 2040, 2050 ... so we have embarked on a program to develop solar energy.”

If the Saudis, with their vested interest in oil have noticed, there’s a message there for the rest of us too.

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/news/2015/5/22/policy-politics/saudi-oil-minister-fossil-fuels-doomed-were-switching-solar?utm_source=exact&utm_medium=email&utm_content=1370620&utm_campaign=cs_daily&modapt= / Saudi Arabia's oil minister switch energy focus solar power an end to fossil fuels Reuters Saudi Arabia fossil fuels we have embarked on a program develop solar energy Ali Al-Naimi business climate conference Paris news service reports exporting fossil fuels exporting gigawatts electric electricity Reuters minister world's energy mix fossil fuels oil prices as low as $US30-$40 barrel would not make solar power uneconomic /

Only carpenter bees can unlock the pink gentian flower

Flowers & pollinating insects evolved together. Flowering plants provide a reward, (usually in the form of nectar) & insects carry pollen from flower to flower.

A problem for the plant is that some of the pollen may be wasted, if the insect next visits a different species of flowering plant.

Some insects & plants are adapted to one another — in South Africa, pink gentian flowers provide pollen as a reward, which they keep locked, & only carpenter bees have the key:



For the plant, the advantage is that it doesn’t have to invest energy in producing nectar, & its pollen is more efficiently transferred to other flowers of its own species. A guaranteed source of food with exclusive access is the reward for the carpenter bee. / wings carpenter bees pink gentian flowers release their pollen beating at a frequency anthers vibrate pink gentian grows Southern Africa pollinated bumble furry carpenter bees flowering flowers gentian spread petals wide curving white style three large stamens long thick anther covered yellow pollen pollen-feeding insect yellow anther hollow pollen held inside tiny hole top of the anther extract bee making high-pitched buzzing noise wings alights anther beating its wings lowers the frequency note buzz approximately middle anther vibrate just the right frequency release pollen grains spout hole at the top yellow fountain evolution evolve adapt adapted /

Hybrid batteries repurposed at Yellowstone National Park

You may remember previous posts about plans to repurpose electric vehicle batteries to such purposes as storing excess electricity at periods of low demand for use at times of peak load, or to store solar electricity for use when the Sun isn’t shining.

Here’s a practical example at Yellowstone National Park: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098326_used-toyota-hybrid-batteries-repurposed-at-yellowstone-national-park / original purpose battery packs hybrids electric cars useful battery energy-storage capacity diminishes over time packs no longer suitable for use in cars automotive service life battery packs usable capacity other applications reuse re-use recycle re-cycle power powering energy electricity storage cluster of buildings remote part of Yellowstone National Park used Toyota Camry Hybrid battery packs store energy generated solar panels Lamar Buffalo Ranch field campus system Camry Hybrid nickel-metal-hydride NiMH battery packs recovered Toyota dealers total of 85 kilowatt-hours storage capacity pack disassembled tested converted stationary energy-storage use battery-management systems Indy Power Systems re-wired in parallel arrays of 52 packs each solar array power Lamar Buffalo Ranch five buildings generates electricity power six average U.S. households USA U.S.A. U.S. Toyota onsite battery packs solar power storing energy sunlight isn't available more dependable source of power micro-hydro turbines capture energy from a nearby stream recycle batteries Toyota recycling program repurposing growth energy-storage business significant demand battery packs pair with solar arrays nickel-metal-hydride Toyota hybrids precious metals higher-capacity lithium-ion cells LiIon electric cars vehicle EV recycling secondary use battery packs landfills automotive service /

Fossil fuel subsidies — $US10 million per minute

Opponents often object to subsidies for sustainable energy. Frequently, this is in the form of a plea for a, “level playing field”.

The absurdity of such pleas is highlighted in the recent working paper on this topic from the International Monetary Fund:

“Post-tax energy subsidies … $4.9 trillion ... in 2013, and projected to reach $5.3 trillion … in 2015.”¹ Note that this is not an IMF report as such — as a working paper, it represents the views of its authors.²

$US5.3 trillion per annum is $US10 million per minute. It’s also more than the total health spending of all the world’s governments.³

Many, on all sides of the climate change & economic debates, have expressed concern that a modern industrial society may not be possible without cheap fossil fuels. This report suggests that those fears are unfounded — fossil fuels aren’t cheap.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/18/fossil-fuel-companies-getting-10m-a-minute-in-subsidies-says-imf

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/fossil-fuels-subsidies-cost-world-5-3-trillion-a-year-10m-a-minute-27983
__________

¹ “IMF Working Paper”, 2015, p6: “Post-tax energy subsidies are dramatically higher than previously estimated—$4.9 trillion (6.5 percent of global GDP) in 2013, and projected to reach $5.3 trillion (6.5 percent of global GDP) in 2015.” https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2015/wp15105.pdf

² “IMF working Paper”, 2015, p2 https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2015/wp15105.pdf

³ http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/18/fossil-fuel-companies-getting-10m-a-minute-in-subsidies-says-imf / large global energy subsidies larger than we thought new estimates International Monetary Fund cost subsidising fossil fuels enormous $US5.3 trillion a year $US10 million minute calculations extremely robust IMF polluters costs social welfare health environmental broader economic governments burning coal oil gas post-tax energy subsidies dramatically higher previously estimated global GDP report eminent UK economist Nicholas Stern figure significant underestimate complete estimate costs climate change implicit subsidies fossil fuels much bigger coal biggest recipient subsidisation high environmental damage road fuels meaningful excises consumption petroleum most heavily subsidised product report projected subsidy despite declining petroleum prices natural gas electricity global GDP environmental impacts energy inputs power generation report post-tax subsidies advanced developing economies GDP emerging developing countries no justification enormous subsidies fossil fuels distort markets damages economies poorer countries Lord Stern Australia report nation’s fossil fuel sector $47 billion in federal government subsidies wind turbines The Australia Institute Rod Campbell fossil fuel industry schools hospitals public infrastructure state governments mineral fossil fuel industries fully fund the Gonski education reforms diesel fuel rebate fuel tax credit 2015 Federal Budget Paper Galilee coal projects Abbot Point terminal cost Queensland taxpayers old false story cheap fossil fuels health climate costs never accounted directly costing taxpayers billions Campbell eliminating subsidies for fossil fuels cut global carbon emissions by 20 per cent premature deaths outdoor air pollution deliver projected economic gains economic game-changer report says policy policymakers stakeholders need for reform benefits reform fiscal balances environment human health economy report subsidies for renewable energy pricing of fossil fuels subsidies for renewable energy /

The Universal Translator is almost here

But it’s been renamed, Skype Translator Preview.

Students in USA & Mexico on a Skype call with Skype Translator providing the translation


So far, four spoken languages: Spanish, Italian, Mandarin & English + 50 instant messaging languages (Windows 8.1 only) for now.

http://www.skype.com/en/translator-preview/

http://www.macworld.com.au/news/the-future-is-here-%E2%80%93-skype-translator-138106/#.VVnA_TY4bTZ / kids Universe English future devices universal translators instantly converted spoken word between languages the future is here Skype Translator Preview open to everyone Skype Translator currently four available spoken languages English Spanish Italian Mandarin 50 instant messaging languages users write text message language recipient receiving in their preferred language Skype Translator website Skype Translator Preview communication Skype audio and video communications AV Microsoft Research Skype communicate language first phase Skype Translator preview program programme four spoken languages Spanish English 50 instant messaging languages Skype Translator sign-up page Windows 8.1 desktop device Skype Translator around the world connect communicate collaborate geography language barriers two schools try Skype Translator Peterson School in Mexico City Stafford Elementary School in Tacoma USA Mystery Skype children ask questions determine the location of the other school classroom of children speaking Spanish speaking English Skype Translator removed this language barrier enabled communication communicate video Skype Translator speech recognition automatic translation machine learning technologies Skype Translator machine learning technology quality will continually improve communicate people around the world speech translation translate many languages many platforms deliver best Skype Translator experience each platform connected users preview program /