Energy storage market set to explode

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/01/31/energy-storage-market-set-explode/ / energy storage energy research researchers company companies market research firm IHS energy storage market annual installation 6 gigawatts GW 2017 initial base instal installation installed IHS report largest market grid connected grid-connected energy storage installations instal installed installation projects capacity additions Germany Japan top markets energy storage market Zinc-air batteries Zinc-iron redox flow batteries Liquid-metal batteries energy storage installations lithium ion lithium-ion batteries battery battery experts grid-connected energy storage market total over 40 GW installation installation 2022 /

Within a few years, a self-powered robot could be mowing your lawn

Prototype
Credit: Melissa Cannarozzi/GigaOm

Mowing grass requires energy. Some mowers use energy supplied by the user. Given a choice, most of us use some sort of motor to supply as much of the energy as possible.

So, put in a lot of energy to drive the process & at the end have a pile of unwanted grass clippings.

Tech startup EcoMow Technologies was inspired by the realization, that grass can burn, & so potentially, be a source of energy to drive the mower. Grass doesn't burn well as such, so EcoMow plans to gasify the grass as a first step.

Despite what what is written in the linked article, the grass won't actually be burned. Rather, it will be heated in the absence of air to release a combustible gas, a process called gasification. Gas produced in this way can be used to drive an internal combustion engine. Gasification can also produce gas from coal or wood chips.

http://gigaom.com/2014/01/31/within-a-few-years-a-self-powered-robot-could-be-mowing-your-lawn/

More about gasification
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasification / EcoMow powers itself power energy electricity grass harvests creator creat creators barriers entering enter consumer market develop developing development model World War II fuel rations rationing Europeans alternative means power cars burned wood chips as fuel George Mason University graduate student Jason Force technology grass pellets wood chips chip system lawn mower lawn mower power grass harvest harvested self guiding guide self-guiding self guided vacuum cleaner Roomba now self-guided self-guiding EcoMow Technologies mechanical chemical engineering test testing tested consumers consumer inverstor investors developing software robot complex complicated big challenge EcoMow too risky safer product safety safe run over pets children street cause accident $2 million development cycle consumer customer consumer customers another product larger mower harvest hay fields fuel pellets sold sophisticated guidance system chemist chemistry consumer model found support among investors production produce prototype consumer mower small model designed /

Disruptive battery price drop to continue

Electric vehicles (EVs) are generally expensive when compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles of apparently similar performance & size. Limited range is also a problem for many potential buyers.

Cost & limited range of EVs is a consequence of the price of lithium ion (LiIon) batteries, which are, at least for the moment, the only viable energy storage option. Tesla's cost-is-no-object approach produces a superlative vehicle. If an EV has enough batteries, range is no longer a problem, & performance is spectacular.

It is widely believed that the LiIon battery market is "mature". I.e. that a degree of stability has been achieved & price drops in future will be relatively slow. More recently, it has been suggested that disruptive market pressures, such as forward-pricing & pre-emptive actions to grab market share, will continue to prevent market maturity. Price drops in the range of 20% per annum have been suggested.

For EVs, Dr. Rudolf Krebs of Volkswagen has said that they will be price competive with ICE vehicles in 2015. Elon Musk has promised a "mass market" EV, "Hopefully 2016, but I would say no later than 2017."

Business Spectator on the LiIon market:

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2014/1/20/smart-energy/disruptive-battery-price-drop-continue?utm_source=exact&utm_medium=email&utm_content=557876&utm_campaign=cs_daily&modapt= / ABB electric vehicles vehicle e-mobility Hans Streng cell battery prices coming down transform auto energy markets market drop falling precipitous precipitously dropping gradual effect e-mobility industry volumes volume increasing increase exponentially climb leap prices decline exponential recent price movements report reported different media price declines decline per cent observed in the market extrapolation extrapolated erosion basis of disruptions supply chain companies company Samsung Panasonic forward pricing forward-pricing pre emptive preemptive pre-emptive actions grab market share cut throat cut-throat longterm battery-battle battery battle samsung panasonic battery price war high-level insight prevailing EV forecasts sharpen the battle in battery prices Dr. Rudolf Krebs heads Volkswagen E-mobility program price electric vehicle equivalent combustion-motor combustion motor vehicle Increase EV volume battery price battery-price decline battery prices declined 14 per cent YoY and 30 per cent battery prices to go down straight extrapolation disruptions Bloomberg analysis battery price battery-price decline 40 per cent steeper decline normal erosion exponential effects storage capacity prices year on year year-on-year YoY mature market decline avalanche effect similar to what happened in the PV industry collapsing prices LCD industry exponential disruptive effects trendwatch analysis Germany current battery prices Tesla projections compare price levels price curve far from mature market erosion-profile erosion profile typical early market disruptions driven strategic moves anticipated market explosions ABB Conversations CleanTechnica /

Get off the couch, it's killing you

Credit: NextDesk/YouTube


Credit: ABC Catalyst/YouTube / lesson learn learned fit fitness active life spend hunch posture time spent hunched computer countless hours feckless seat sit sitting seated procrastination benefits exercise muscles slackened slack fat seeped seep insidiously blood liver ventricles stupor infiltrated brain sedentary inactive health unhealthy inactive inactivity studies day daily movement patterns pattern typical modern exerciser exercise run runner running walk walking runs sits hours afterward moving less over all does not work out exercise program programme health consequences swift consequence pervasive punish punishing noteworthy recent experiment conducted scientists University of Massachusetts institution institutions group of healthy young men donned don clunky platform shoe 4 inch 4-inch heel right foot ground hop men hopped about using crutches muscle muscles fully sedentary research scientist scientists biopsy biopsied muscles both legs finding found multiple genes now being expressed differently two legs gene activity DNA repair mechanisms compromise compromised disrupted insulin response decreased depressed dropping oxidative stress increasing rising metabolic activity within individual muscle cells slowing after only 48 hours of inactivity similar similar experiments experiment lab animals animal laboratory casts cast placed back legs rapidly developed noxious cellular changes throughout their bodies immobilized muscles produced substantially less of an enzyme dissolves fat bloodstream result animals humans human animal fat accumulate accumulate migrate heart liver potential potentially leading to cardiac disease diabetes see result results such inactivity scientists scientist National Cancer Institute eight years following almost 250,000 American adults participants answered detailed questions questionnaire how much time they spent commuting watching TV sitting computer exercise exercising general health none suffered from heart disease cancer diabetes watched TV much higher risk premature death measure of sedentary time upright Diabetes Care scientists Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne Australia, had 19 adults sit completely still stand up rise every 20 minutes walk leisurely treadmill two minute blood sugar spiked insulin levels movement two minute short two-minute stroll blood sugar levels remained stable jogging improve blood sugar regulation standing walking important scientists concluded simply breaking up the long interminable hours of sitting University of Massachusettsbvolunteers stood all day balance physical confidence have improved aerobic workouts have been shown to improve brainpower /

Tesla Model S: New York to Florida road trip

Credit: Tesla/Green Car Reports

Another Tesla road trip, taking advantage of the growing Tesla Supercharger network. This is the first installment, the first 2 days, as far as South Carolina.

Days 1 & 2:
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1089948_tesla-model-s-ny-to-fl-trip-from-home-to-south-carolina

Update 02 February 2014

Day 3:
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1089976_tesla-model-s-ny-to-fl-trip-day-3-south-carolina-to-florida

Day 4
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1090017_tesla-model-s-ny-to-fl-trip-day-4-florida-destination--made-it

Also, if you haven't seen it yet, check out the recent east-to-west USA road trip. / New York-to-Florida electric-car New York Florida road trip 2013 Tesla Model S progressing according to plan learn learned traveling via newly-completed network Tesla Supercharger DC quick-charging stations quick charging cold weather cut the range of electric cars 85 kWh battery pack range charge recharge quick charge LiIon lithium ion battery pack Day 1 Hudson Valley New York Newark Delaware left Supercharger Newark Delaware home in New York's Hudson Valley fast charging Tesla Supercharger fast-charging system electric cars car vehicle EV temperature departure degrees charge 90 percent plan top off just before departure warm warms battery minimize minimise minimizes reduces huge initial energy draw stone cold stone-cold start very slow charge rate battery nearly full drive off away rated range showing 251 miles drive driving fast in the cold topping off topping-off process partially effective Battery Heating heat heater indicator comes on after a few minutes, and the regen braking limited initially cold weather regenerative braking energy consumption 600 Wh per mile normal consumption driving rated range New Jersey Route 17 Ramsey Nissan Level 2 charging station Newark cell battery 85-kWh 85 kWh pack range test for the new battery cruise heat degrees drive range display compares compare actual miles driven everything fully warmed energy consumption stabilized 370 kWh/mi kWh per mile indicated range lost Tesla Motors lithium-ion battery pack calibrate calibrating range speed cabin temperature Newark indicated range remaining triggering trigger low battery low-battery warning cutback reduce available maximum power plug plugging in local Tesla rep drives up demo drive Florida Supercharging power electricity is free Newark service area food court car charges range indicated Kilowatt hours kilo Watt Newark Delaware Santee South Carolina temperature 26 degrees ambient /

Swirling time-lapse nudes capture the allure of bodies in motion

Credit: Shinichi Maruyama/Wired

http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2013/12/shinichi-maruyama/#slideid-117201 / nude time-lapse time lapse photography photograph image photographer unique ability reveal hidden dimensions most familiar forms Japanese photographer Shinichi Maruyama’s nudes nude capture human body never seen before image combines combine 10,000 individual frames snapped while dancers perform meticulously choreographed choreography choreograph gestures gesture straddle result straddles line between sculpture performance art express beauty beautiful both human body body’s figure motion concept of time images flowing flow organic appear utterly spontaneous result of months careful planning technical details process shoot shooting image images required day choreography five months prepare layering layer layers images create final pieces required another eight months plan planned final form Maruyama studio New York Jessica Lang developed finalized movements dancers dancer cites Marcel Duchamp Nude Descending a Staircase major inspiration project Duchamp, Maruyama drew inspiration early sequence photography Étienne-Jules Marey work invoke invokes Zen Buddhism notion impermanence photo photos appear one fluid motion accumulation of distinct events everyday life time is flowing endless repetition one moment appears disappears another moment appear disappear Zenbevery moment independent one another /

Making you phone into a better camera

Credit: Ztylus/YouTube

Samsung Galaxy S4 only for now, iPhone & Note 3 coming soon.

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2014/01/25/ztylus-wants-to-turn-your-samsung-galaxy-s4-into-a-more-capable-point-and-shoot-camera/ / Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone smart phone Ztylus Camera case RV-1 Revolver Lens Kit phone multi-lens digital camera lens attachment accessories Ztylus replace replaces back cover S4 snap off unsnap rear cover snap off Ztylus handy ergonomic hand grip threaded tripod mount stand speaker enhancer two eyelets attach neck strap Ztylus case used alone paired remove removable RV-1 Revolver Lens Kit, add adds 4 lenses lens CPL Circular Polarizer Filter polarizing Wide Angle Lens Super Micro Lens Extreme Fish Eye Lens case lens kit Ztylus /